She had been so busy lately that Jiang Jin had actually forgotten about this matter; natural disasters were often accompanied by death and plagues.
After thinking for a moment, she had someone call Suo Qian and a few others over.
"With the current drought and corpses littering the ground, a plague is very likely to break out. Do you have any solutions?"
Suo Qian pondered for a moment before replying, "Plagues are generally highly contagious, making them difficult to prevent. The best method is isolation."
Jiang Jin frowned slightly. "How long is the incubation period usually? How long do they need to be isolated to be safe?"
Liu Mi looked up. "Is My Lord worried that some of the refugees might be carrying a plague?"
Having treated four wounded people today, she knew that fleeing commoners from several villages had arrived in Gefeng.
Jiang Jin nodded. "Exactly. We are currently living in dense quarters. If there really is a plague, the entire city could be infected. We must be cautious about this."
Suo Qian's expression turned solemn. "It depends on the type of plague. Some have longer incubation periods, while others are shorter. Take the bubonic plague, for example; it is generally two to five days."
Jiang Jin thought for a moment and said, "Then let's build a few simple houses outside the South Gate to serve as temporary shelters. When refugees come seeking asylum, let them stay outside the city for five days first. If there are no issues, then we let them in. What do you think?"
For the increasingly experienced 'infrastructure maniacs', building a few simple houses was a very easy task.
Mu Zhuo nodded. "That is indeed a good method."
"Alright, we'll do just that," Jiang Jin ordered. "Right, also prepare some cooling and detoxifying herbs. We can have the refugees drink them when the time comes."
Liu Mi added, "And we can use mugwort to sterilize their clothes."
Ever since teaching them simplified characters, Jiang Jin had spoken to the people at the medical clinic about the concept of bacteria.
She had also informed them of several sterilization techniques, allowing them to minimize bacterial infections when treating the wounded.
Jiang Jin nodded in agreement. "Good. Are our herbal supplies sufficient?"
Liu Mi nodded. "Since the beginning of spring, Luo Zhong has been leading people up the mountain to gather herbs. We have prepared quite a lot, and we've planted the ones that can be cultivated. It's enough for now."
Remembering something, Jiang Jin asked, "By the way, how is your practice with wound suturing going? Have you made the mulberry bark threads and catgut sutures?"
Jiang Jin had explained the concept of suturing to them and mentioned two types of surgical threads that could be produced currently.
One was the non-absorbable mulberry bark thread, and the other was the absorbable catgut suture.
Speaking of this, Suo Qian became excited. "We made them. We used rabbits for suturing experiments earlier and gradually gained quite a bit of experience."
"The wounds of the four injured today were treated using the suturing technique you mentioned. We will see the results in a few days."
He truly admired Jiang Jin. She seemed to know everything, including many things he had never even heard of before, such as penicillin.
According to My Lord, wounds festering and oozing pus were mostly due to bacterial infections, and penicillin was exactly what killed the bacteria. It belonged to something called antibiotics and could be used for various infections.
Thinking about how many soldiers had died from festering wounds in the past, if this penicillin could really be developed, it would absolutely save countless lives.
Based on the information Jiang Jin provided, he had researched it for several months. He had collected the penicillium, prepared the culture medium, and cultivated the mold, but he was stuck at the step of extracting the penicillin solution.
Jiang Jin also recalled this matter and asked, "How is the development of your penicillin going?"
Suo Qian explained the problems they were currently facing.
Jiang Jin pondered, "Could it be that the charcoal powder adsorption wasn't done well? Or maybe it's an issue with the containers. It's best if you use glassware; its chemical stability is much better than ceramics."
When Suo Qian and the others were conducting their research, glass hadn't been produced yet, so the vessels he used were porcelain.
Suo Qian's eyes lit up. Although he didn't understand what chemical stability meant, listening to her was definitely the right choice.
"Alright, I'll go to the glass workshop later and have them make various glass vessels for me."
Jiang Jin nodded. "Okay. Pay close attention to the plague situation."
After Suo Qian and the others left, Jiang Jin called Kang Sheng over and told him about building temporary shelters outside the city.
The two discussed the size and location of the houses, and so on.
The next day, the weather felt a bit hotter, and there was still no sign of rain.
He Qiuchi and Xu Qian arrived early at the county office to check in.
Both of them were a bit nervous and secretly looked up at Jiang Jin. They hadn't expected her to arrive at the county office so early.
Jiang Jin found it somewhat amusing. "No need to be nervous. You will follow Dongzhi to work first and slowly get familiar with things."
The two hurriedly bowed in salute. "Yes."
Jiang Jin looked at Dong Si. "When you have time, guide them as well."
Dong Si nodded. "Rest assured, My Lord."
Just as they were talking, Dongzhi came in to report, "My Lord, the two from the Sheng clan request an audience."
Jiang Jin nodded. "Alright, bring them to the main hall. I'll be right there."
Sheng He looked with complex eyes at Jiang Jin as she walked in with a calm demeanor.
Jiang Jin's attitude was very gentle. "Have you two thought it through?"
Sheng He cut straight to the point. "May I know which city you plan to feign an attack on?"
Sheng Shang added, "Right. If it's not a crucial city, Qu Zhao won't send people to rescue it."
Jiang Jin smiled. "Shanguan County. What do you think?"
Although Shanguan County wasn't very large, it was the main transportation route from Donghu Commandery to Liuxiang Commandery and Ze'a Commandery, holding significant strategic importance.
Sheng He's heart stirred as he looked at Jiang Jin. "You're going to feign an attack on Shanguan County?"
Jiang Jin's expression was sincere. "That's right. You give us money and provisions, and we will naturally do our best to help you. You can rest assured on that point."
Sheng He lowered his head in deep thought. After a few breaths, he finally said, "The salt and gold are manageable, but that's too much grain."
"You also know that there's a drought this year, so the grain harvest will inevitably be very low. The land we can plant now is less than one in a hundred. We really can't produce two hundred thousand shi. What is the absolute minimum you can accept?"
Seeing his sincerity, Jiang Jin considered it for a moment and said, "The total of two hundred thousand shi remains unchanged, but you can provide one hundred and fifty thousand shi of grain and fifty thousand shi of horse fodder."
Jiang Jin currently had around two thousand five hundred horses. An adult horse needed to eat about twenty catties of food a day, and larger horses required even more.
Calculating it out, they would consume over four hundred shi of food every day, which amounted to more than ten thousand shi a month.
There was a drought this year, but the situation around Gefeng, especially in the Gesi Mountains, was still alright, so the horses could graze on grass.
Occasionally feeding them old cabbage leaves and the like, combined with some bran, was enough for now.
After all, the commoners in the city consumed a lot of rice, wheat, and millet every month, so she had plenty of bran.
But winter was approaching, and by then, they would have to rely entirely on grain to feed the horses.
Even though there would be wheat and rice straw available, once she conquered Shanguan County, she would have far more than just two thousand horses.
Therefore, horse fodder was also something she desperately needed right now.
Seeing that Sheng He was about to speak again, Jiang Jin shook her head. "You should know that even though it's a feigned attack, we are still risking our lives."
Sheng He could see that this was Jiang Jin's bottom line. After hesitating for a moment, he nodded. "Alright, but I cannot make the final decision. I need to go back and report to my family head."
Jiang Jin had no objections. "That's fine, but I must make one thing clear first. We will only make a move after we receive the money and provisions. Otherwise, if we can't eat our fill, we won't have the energy to work."
