The Great Qin Empire---Qin Li

Outside the west gate of Jiangling, there is a large piece of public land belonging to the government, cultivated by some officials. They plant not grains, but ramie and what the clerk Dian Xi called "hemp".

"The left military officer came at an untimely time. Ramie and hemp are planted in late February and early March, near the rain. They have just sprouted now, and there are still several months before they grow up. The first harvest will be at least in midsummer May..."

Dian Xi apologized, but he felt that the left military officer's behavior was incredible. He wanted to use linen cloth, but he also wanted to check the hemp field and hemp plants. Did he have to go to the chicken farm to see if the hens were pretty before eating the eggs?

"What a weird guy."

Heifu didn't know what the clerk was thinking, and asked carefully about everything about hemp: It turns out that hemp can be harvested three times a year, in late summer, autumn and before winter. After harvesting, the leaves are removed and only the stems are fermented in the pond. When the fibers soften, they are fished out and dried and divided, and then they can be used to sew cloth.

"The yield of good fields is 50 to 100 shi per mu, and the yield of poor fields is still 30 shi. It is much easier to grow hemp than to get silk."

So the hemp field in front of them is basically hemp buds that have just sprouted tender leaves, and the bright hall cannot be seen.

However, there are exceptions. After walking half a circle in this hemp field of more than a thousand acres, on a neighboring hill, they finally found some hemp growing on the hill due to the spilling of hemp seeds.

But looking at these nine-foot-tall plants, taller than himself, Hei Fu showed a puzzled expression: "Is this the marijuana you mentioned?"

"This is indeed marijuana."

Not only did Dian Qie nod, but even Chen Wujiu beside him gave a positive answer. Although this kind of hemp is not as widely planted as ramie in the south, it is the main source of linen cloth in the north. Even five-year-old children know it. Chen Wujiu is a doctor who has to deal with plants at any time. How could he not recognize it?

Hei Fu was a little disappointed, because this did not seem to be the "marijuana" he imagined.

In his previous life, during his internship, Hei Fu followed the drug enforcement team to arrest a family who secretly grew marijuana at home. Although the marijuana that can be used for smoking is very similar to the hemp in front of him, it grows short, less than half a person's height, and the leaves seem to be larger and rounder. In contrast, the hemp in front of him has slender stems and narrower leaves.

Hei Fu couldn't help but think of a teacher who taught them in class in his previous life that although they are all called marijuana, they are also divided into some subspecies. In ancient times, the hemp in northern China, which was widely used for weaving, was of the fiber type and contained very little narcotic. However, the hemp grown in India and Yunnan had a higher narcotic content. After the flowers and leaves were dried, they could be used as drugs. The locals were accustomed to eating hemp seeds as snacks, just like the people in the Central Plains eating melon seeds...

"What a pity..."

Hei Fu was a little disappointed. It was not because he wanted to "take a puff" to try something new, but because if he could find hemp containing narcotic, he might have an anesthetic for treating the wounds of the wounded.

He once asked Chen Wujiu, in addition to wine, do doctors these days have intoxicants that can relieve pain after injuries?

After thinking about it, Chen Wujiu told Hei Fu that it was said that when Bian Que treated people, he used a kind of "poisonous wine" to make people faint for three days, then he opened the patient's chest and heart, treated the lesions, and finally gave the magic medicine to make the patient enlightened...

This statement surprised Hei Fu. It turned out that there was surgery so early? Bian Que was really amazing.

But when he asked Chen Wujiu if he could make the kind of "poison wine" that could knock people out for three days, Chen Wujiu said helplessly that since the doctors scattered and Bian Que disappeared, this secret recipe has been lost.

Lost? Are you kidding me?

Hei Fu was disappointed, but ancient technology did often break down, and it was all because of the doctors' restrictions on their schools and their own treasures.

But after hearing the name "marijuana" today, Hei Fu had a different idea in his mind.

"It is said that Hua Tuo, the great doctor of the Eastern Han Dynasty, also made Ma Fei San. Since there is the word Ma, it is probably related to hemp. Perhaps it is an anesthetic substance extracted from the flowers and leaves of hemp?"

Although the hemp in front of him seems different from the hemp of later generations, Hei Fu still did not give up. After two thousand years, maybe the hemp flowers and leaves of this year contain more anesthetic substances than those of later generations? In addition, it is a warm period now. The climate and vegetation near Yunmengze are similar to those of Yunnan in later generations. Perhaps we can find some wild hemp? Maybe they can make good anesthetic substances without being domesticated.

So Heifu asked Chen Wujiu: "Doctor Chen, I wonder if hemp has been used for medicine besides weaving cloth?"

"Yes."

Chen Wujiu said without hesitation: "These hemp seeds are fried in oil and are called hemp seeds. They are mainly used to treat dry stools and can be used to moisten the intestines and relieve constipation!"

He lowered his voice: "Why, Zuo Bingcaoshi wants to use it?"

You are constipated!

Heifu was speechless and could only pretend to be mysterious and talk about an incident. He claimed that when he was a child, he saw a wild cannabis plant in the mountains because he was playful. Because he was young and ignorant, he picked its flowers and leaves and chewed them, and then fell asleep...

"Doctor Chen, imagine that when officers are injured on the battlefield, they are in excruciating pain. At this time, if there is something like Bian Que's poison wine to make them unconscious, and when they are unconscious, they can quickly treat the wounds of broken limbs, so that the officers don't have to suffer, wouldn't it be wonderful?"

Chen Wujiu is a smart man and immediately reacted: "What the Left Military History means is, let me try to see if the flowers and leaves of cannabis can also be used as medicine?"

"Of course, if something similar to Bian Que's poison wine can be made, Doctor Chen will be a successor to the world's doctors! I believe that the Imperial Physician will treat Doctor Chen differently again."

Under Heifu's instigation, Chen Wujiu was moved and promised that during Heifu's training of medical soldiers, he would also try to use cannabis flowers and leaves to see if they can be used as medicine, and take people to find wild cannabis.

"If it can be made, it will be all the credit of Doctor Chen, and it has nothing to do with me."

Heifu cleared himself in advance and decided to let Chen Wujiu figure it out on his own. He no longer asked about this matter. Whether it succeeded or not, it had nothing to do with him.

"It's all Ye Teng's fault. Now I really do good things without leaving a name." Heifu didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Then, Heifu discussed with the clerk Dianzhi that Bingcao needed 100 pieces of ramie cloth within this month, and asked the weaving room to help make 20 rolls of bandages for each piece of cloth. In the next six months, the weaving room will also need to weave 1,500 pieces of ramie cloth and make 30,000 rolls of bandages!

"Does it require such a large amount?" Chen Wujiu was a little surprised. According to the market price of 300 coins per piece of ramie cloth, it means that 450,000 coins will be invested! This is not a small amount.

"Be prepared." Hei Fu said so. He knew that Nanjun would recruit at least 30,000 soldiers this year. Although it was impossible for everyone to be injured, at least one roll of bandage should be guaranteed for each person, right? If it was not enough, the weaving room in the rear would continue to produce and supply the front line. And if I remember correctly, although this battle ended with the demise of Chu, the process was very long, and every confrontation would result in a lot of casualties. At that time, it was time for the medical soldiers to show their skills. In addition to inspiring morale so that the soldiers had no worries, it would be a good thing if they could save as many people as possible. As for spending money? If I remember correctly, after breaking out from Yingyang and returning to the country, the reward given by the King of Qin to Hei Fu and his nearly 1,000 people was as high as 2 to 3 million coins! Hei Fu alone received 70,000. If only a few hundred thousand coins can inspire the morale of tens of thousands of soldiers and save hundreds of lives, it is definitely worth it! He believed that the King of Qin and the county governor and county lieutenant would calculate this account.

These matters, the clerk of Dianzhi could not make the decision, so Heifu and Chen Wujiu returned to the weaving room in the west of Jiangling City, intending to discuss with the weaving room engineer, but just as they arrived at the door, they found that a large group of women had appeared here without knowing when...

...

The women were all holding bamboo plaques filled with fresh mulberry leaves, and were walking towards the silkworm room in small steps.

Heifu certainly would not mistake them for mulberry pickers, because these women, just from the clothes, knew that they must come from wealthy families. They were led by several middle-aged women who were dressed decently and solemnly, and the rest of the women ranged from more than ten to twenty or thirty years old, all wearing brocade clothes, or wide-sleeved deep clothes, or two-color skirts. Moreover, they also put on perfume powder and carried sachets, making the whole weaving room full of the fragrance of orchids...

"What are these wives and daughters of Jiangling nobles doing here?" Heifu was a little surprised.

"I hope the left military officer won't blame me."

Seeing Heifu and his men coming back, the weaving room engineer hurried over to apologize: "On the first day of the third month of spring, according to the rules, everyone from the queen and concubines to the wives and daughters of county magistrates must go to the local weaving room and silkworm room to personally pick mulberry leaves, raise silkworms, and sew silk. This is the etiquette of encouraging silkworms. Today, the wife and daughter of the county magistrate will take the lead, and the wives and daughters of the officials in the city have all come. I was busy preparing for this and neglected it..."

Heifu suddenly realized that the weaving room engineer had left in a hurry just now because of this matter!

He knew that during the spring plowing in January and February, the king, county magistrates, and county magistrates would personally go to the fields to touch the plow handles to show their attention to farming, which was called "encouraging farming." Their female relatives could not be idle either. At the critical moment of raising silkworms in March, they had to come out and do these "women's work" in person to show their attitude of encouraging sericulture.

This is not formalism, because even at home, these women who have no worries about food and clothing are encouraged to learn to weave and sew clothes. These are all part of "women's work". The clothes and silk fabrics woven will be sent to the wives of the local leaders to compare.

If they happen to encounter such a thing, Heifu and Chen Wujiu should avoid it, but Heifu thought: "In this case, the wife and daughter of the county magistrate are also among them?"

His eyes swept through the flowers and looked at the girl standing in the front row of the silkworm room, following a middle-aged lady.

The girl was far away. She was wearing a deep green dress that matched the color etiquette of March. She had a slender white neck. Because she had not yet reached the age of marriage, her dark hair fell to her shoulders. At this moment, she was struggling to hold a bamboo plaque filled with mulberry leaves and followed her mother into the silkworm room. She soon disappeared from sight...