Ch42 – Bolster

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Horses whinnied on the open land beside the main residence.
A few healthy steeds bore riders on their backs as they galloped across the field.

“Squeeze your legs tightly around your horse and lean forwards! Don’t sit too stiffly, move in rhythm with your horse! Don’t let go of your reins, and don’t pull on them too much!” 

At his words, trampling hooves sent clouds of dust flying in the air.
It was even rowdier than the training fields nearby.

Standing outside the door, Liang Feng watched them.
Ten newly chosen cavalrymen were learning horseback riding under Yiyan’s tutelage.
They were all experienced soldiers who’d fought in battle; over half of them were Jie and the rest were serfs of the estate.
But aside from Yiyan, all of them were clinging on for dear life – it was utterly laughable.

 

 

Noticing that he was being watched, Yiyan tugged the reins and steered the horse in Liang Feng’s direction.
He barreled towards him at great speed, yet didn’t crash.
He easily slowed the horse into a steady trot before coming to a stop, hardly even stirring up a speck of dust.

Yiyan dismounted and lead the horse as he walked up to Liang Feng, “My lord!” 

“What horse is this? It’s so tame!” Liang Feng asked as he interestedly appraised the horse.

 

He’d ridden a few times with his friends in his last life, but those were all gelded country club horses that were so docile they barely even made a peep.
It was the first time he’d seen such a spirited horse.

“They’re all Xiongnu horses.
They can stand cold weather and they don’t eat much.
They’re not the fastest, but they’ve got ample endurance.” Yiyan stroked the horse’s mane, seeming quite pleased.

Xiongnu horses? Were they a type of Mongolian horse?

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“No wonder these horses seemed rather short.” After trying and failing to resist the urge, Liang Feng finally reached out and petted the horse’s neck.

Yiyan had brushed the horse till its mane and tail gleamed like satin.
Its muscles bunched powerfully beneath its skin; its faint sheen of sweat glistened like shining metal woven into silk.
It startled upon being touched by a stranger, then sniffed at Liang Feng’s wide sleeve.
Perhaps choked by the scent, it turned away and sneezed.

“Haha, this horse seems rather obedient.
Can I ride it?” Liang Feng asked excitedly.

“You can’t,” Yiyan answered crisply, “You need core strength and leg strength to ride.
You’re too weak right now, my lord.” 

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection.
If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

Tsk! Though his hopes had been doused, Liang Feng wasn’t angered.
He knew just how poor his condition was.
Even though he’d been nursing his health for some time now, and had finally overcome withdrawal symptoms, his body was still frail.
He got drenched in cold sweat just from taking casual strolls – there was no way he was ready to ride a horse.

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Pa kjr biv jcv kbgc, jcv ibbxfv delaf vloofgfca ogbw wbvfgc rjvvifr.
Ktf ralggeq kjrc’a wfaji flatfg, yea j raglq bo rboa mibat.
Rb kbcvfg Tlsjc tjv rjlv atja tbgrfyjmx glvlcu gfdelgfv mbgf ragfcuat jcv ifu ragfcuat.
Ktjcxr ab atfrf atlcur, atf rxlii oibbg obg tjcvilcu j kjgtbgrf wera yf lcmgfvlyis tlut.

“They’re alright.
Back at home, I could ride even without a saddle,” Yiyan replied nonchalantly.
“After half a month or so of training, the rest of them will get used to it.” 

Just as he was speaking, they heard a wail of shock coming from the field.
Liang Feng stepped forward in alarm, “Someone’s fallen from his horse!”

“His mount wasn’t going very fast.
He’ll remember not to make the same mistake again,” Yiyan responded blandly without even turning around to look.

After seeing the dusty man climb back to his feet, Liang Feng’s worries were assuaged.
Then, he couldn’t help but pity them.
They were in for quite a lot of hardship with such a drill instructor.
Although, with how poor he was right now, he doubted he’d be able to equip the cavalry with new gear.

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The militia hadn’t just recruited ten cavalrymen, but ten saber and shield wielding footsoldiers, and five archers as well.
They all needed new weapons.
There wasn’t any metal armor, of course, but he had to at least procure some leather armor for them and the thirty spearmen.
Just thinking about the cost made Liang Feng’s stomach hurt.
The meager profits earned from selling crude porcelain was only a drop in the bucket. 

He sighed and said, “Just keep training them for now.
I’m afraid it’ll be a few more days before the horseshoes are finished.
Let’s test them out on the donkeys first before using them on the horses.
Also, don’t let them forget how to fight on the ground.
They must be capable of combat whether on horseback or on their feet.”

“I picked each of them with careful consideration.
Don’t worry, my lord.” Suddenly recalling something, Yiyan added, “My lord, we ran into two groups of scouts on our return.”

 

“Oh?” Liang Feng mustered his attention, “Are they from nearby bandit strongholds?”

“I believe so.” Yiyan’s eyes blazed with killing intent, “When the new recruits are trained, I’ll take them out to practice.
Those bastard crooks will learn to fear the Bravesage Battalion!” 

Liang Feng chuckled at Yiyan’s murderous-looking mien, “Very good.
It’s about time to clear out all the bandit nests.”

On one hand, it would let the new soldiers gain real combat experience, and on the other, it would facilitate commerce.
Otherwise, they’d have to waste time finding out who the local powers were if they wanted to discover a viable trade route.
Right now, the Liang Estate barely had enough grain.
They might not be able to make it until the fall harvest.
And they’d likely have to hurry and buy before grain prices started to rise.
If the new soldiers were any good, they’d be able to save money and purchase grain from Jinyang.

If only the plague in Jinyang was controlled soon.

※ 

“No, no! You can’t wear it backwards! Only one side can be facing in! Everyone, wear your smock properly, you can’t take them off even if you’re hot! You’ve got to use hot water and wash your hands at least three times a day… it’s, it’s Buddha’s will!”

Jiang Da couldn’t help bringing out Buddha, his voice was nearly hoarse already.
This wouldn’t do.
The monks had to be the ones telling them this.
One sentence of theirs was worth more than a hundred of his.

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They’d set up their medical center already, they still had a headache-inducing number of problems to face.
The civilians they’d gathered to take care of the sick didn’t understand the importance of safety precautions.
If these people got infected while they ran amok in the medical center, people would die! It seemed they’d have to ask the abbot to send more monks over.
Perhaps with the monks’ guidance, these ignorant peasants won’t cause any disasters.

And the healers sent by the provincial governor, they weren’t as useful as they’d been hoping.
They were either perfunctory and indifferent or under-educated and untrained.
Right now, the Jiang family’s medics were still the ones holding everything together.
But with so many patients, his grandfather had already fallen ill with exhaustion.
If things kept on this way, what could they do? 

Jiang Da’s anxious fretting was interrupted by a servant, who reported, “Master Jiang, a letter’s arrived from the Liang Estate!”

“Hurry, give it to me!” Missives from the Liang Estate were always delivered to the medical center at once.
Too impatient to wait for the servant to enter, Jiang Da snatched the letter out of his hands and began reading it.

A moment later, he gritted his teeth and strode towards the back courtyard.

There were mountains of medicinal herbs piled in the back courtyard.
Healers scrambled to and fro, gathering the supplies they needed.
Physician Jiang was bent over a desk, examining a prescription, scribbling something with his brush. 

“Grandfather!” Jiang Da’s eyes reddened at the sight of his greyed grandfather checking over prescriptions despite his own illness.
He quickly rushed over.

“Da-er, is something the matter?” Physician Jiang asked.
He knew just how busy things were in the medical center.
Jiang Da wouldn’t come here personally unless it was important.

“I just received correspondence from Zixi,” Jiang Da immediately handed the letter to his grandfather.

Physician Jiang’s spirits lifted at once.
He unfolded it, and a moment later, he frowned, “Tell the doctors to write down the cases they’ve treated and compile it into a book?” 

That was utterly impossibly! How would the healers sent by the governor be willing to obediently hand over their medical knowledge? Every school had their secrets, who would ever show their cards to others in the same profession?

Yet Jiang Da said, “I think it’s workable! Right now, most of the healers they’ve sent are rather mediocre.
Sage Zhang of Qi County, the Zhong father and son of Yang Village, and the Gu family of Leping, they’re all accomplished healers.
If they’re willing to send people to Jinyang to share their expertise, won’t they be more useful than the healers we have now? But inviting them here will likely cost a lot of money……..”

 

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Physician Jiang understood what Jiang Da was getting at.
He wanted their family to lead by example, revealing their secret prescriptions and techniques in order to attract other acclaimed doctors.
But this was a matter that would affect the prosperity of the whole Jiang family.
Jiang Da didn’t have the authority to make the final say.

Jiang Da eyed his grandfather’s severe expression as he mumbled, “Maybe, if we taught them about disease prevention, we could….” 

Physician Jiang shook his head, “That knowledge will spread, sooner or later.
The only thing that could tempt the Zhong and Gu families to come to Jinyang is the knowledge about cold damage that my teacher compiled.”

The Jiang family’s learning had come from Wang Xi.
Wang Xi was an illustrious healer who’d organized Zhang Zhongjing’s texts into the “Treatise on Cold Damage.” That meant, of course, that he knew more than anyone about cold damage.
With that as lure, there’s no way that other renowned doctors could resist coming to Jinyang to take a look.

“That’s the Jiang family’s foundation…” Jiang Da felt deeply conflicted as well.
He’d heard Liang Zixi bring up the subject of sharing medical research many times, but it wasn’t so easy to bridge the gap between different schools of thought.
If they made a mistake, they might bring the Jiang family to ruin.

Yet Physician Jiang shook his head, “Cold damage is not the sickness of a single family.
It plagues us all.
Zhang Zhongjing intended for his ‘Treatise on Cold Damage Diseases’ to be known far and wide when he wrote it.
The same goes for my teacher, who complied the ‘Treatise on Cold Damage.’ If we hoard our information from others because they aren’t of our family, then we really would be a disappointment to our ancestors! Da-er, knowledge might take generations to accrue, but a healers’ true foundation is their drive to save others!” 

He’d heard his grandfather say that countless times before, but this time he was truly moved.
He nodded solemnly, “I understand!”

“Mmm.
Zixi’s idea is a good one.
I’ll contact my friends at once.
If they come to Jinyang, then we’ll have hope of stopping the disease.
You must keep an eye on the medical facility, those monks are critical.
Make sure they know all the main aspects of disease prevention and teach it to the people.
And don’t bring up medicine, just stress the religious aspect!”

That was what Jiang Da was thinking in the first place.
He instantly replied, “I’ll tell the supervisors not only to use Buddha’s name, but Liang Zixi’s as well!”

Liang Feng had had a hand in both the scripture and the disease control methods.
Of course he couldn’t let the monks take all the credit. 

“Excellent!” Physician Jiang praised.

After their short conversation, Jiang Da felt like he was brimming with energy.
He hurriedly saluted and left the courtyard.
Physician Jiang couldn’t help but nod at the resolve that steeled his spine.
He was no doubt the best choice to inherit the Jiang family.
At least something good had come out of all this mess.

He turned his gaze back to his desk, retrieved some paper, and began to write.
Soon, several letters left Jinyang, headed for nearby counties and commanderies.
Even more letters arrived at Jinyang in response.
How could they not be moved by the Jiang family’s earnest sincerity? More and more carriages began bounding towards the medical center in Jinyang.