The Humble Family's Daughter Has A Spatial Pocket! novel Chapter 758

Chapter 758: Chapter 678, Zhongyi Archway_1

Because they had hired Ge Xun, Daohua was quite happy on the way back to Taohua Village.

Gu Jian was somewhat speechless, but he still approved of his disciple’s judgment. He had communicated with Ge Xun these past few days, and the man indeed had some accomplishments in medicine.

He was very clear on the importance of a good doctor. Since Yeyang had gone to the Northern Frontier, he had been quite worried. With this person sent over, having him look after things, both he and his disciple could be a bit more at ease.

In early March, the group returned to Taohua Village, and upon arrival, Daohua took Ge Xun for a tour of her own pharmacy.

The pharmacy was newly built. As the number of pharmaceutical devices increased, Gu Jian’s old pharmacy became somewhat cramped, so Daohua constructed a larger pharmacy in the manor.

Looking at all the glass instruments in the pharmacy he had never even seen before, Ge Xun’s eyes could barely take it all in, "Miss Yan, the medicines you used on me before, were they all made with these things?"

Daohua smiled and nodded, "Yeah, don’t be fooled by the variety of instruments; they’re really not that complicated to use. You’ll know how after watching more. The truly difficult part is experimenting to develop the medicinal formulas."

Because the Sun Family’s fleet was set to go north at the end of March, Daohua wanted Ge Xun to head to the Northern Frontier sooner rather than later. She spoke to him about it so he could prepare. Afterwards, she immersed herself in the pharmacy, wanting to prepare more medicine to send to Xiao Yeyang and her two brothers.

...

Meanwhile, in Beijing, within the Imperial Palace.

Since the eighth prince had fled to the Northern Frontier, seizing three border cities in the process—even though Xia Teng’s forces had since reclaimed one—there were still two cities in the eighth prince’s hands. With the cities to defend and the alliance with the Tartars, the conflict at the Northern Frontier had reached a stalemate.

During this time, there were no large-scale battles at the Northern Frontier, but the skirmishes were incessant.

The generals at the border were indecisive, caught between withdrawing or remaining with their tens of thousands of troops.

The Emperor, irate as he looked over the battle report from the border, flung the document furiously onto the ground.

The officials called forth to discuss the situation all bowed their heads, not daring to make a sound.

It was clear what the eighth prince aimed to do—drag out the time. The daily consumption of food for hundreds of thousands of troops was an enormous figure. With prolonged time, the Imperial Court would definitely not be able to sustain it.

The atmosphere in the great hall was oppressive, and in the end, it was the Grand Secretary Yang Chenghua who braced himself to stand forth, "Your Majesty, taxes of grain were collected from the provinces last year, so the soldiers are currently not lacking in food. However, many soldiers have been injured in the continuous battles and the Northern Frontier is in desperate need of medicinal supplies."

The Emperor rubbed his throbbing forehead. Grain was relatively easy to collect, but medicinal materials were expensive and scarce. Not many cultivated them, and even if he issued an order to gather them, he feared that it wouldn’t yield much.

Furthermore, medicine was much more expensive than grain.

Although the discovery of two gold mines in Ningmen Prefecture had filled the treasury somewhat in the last two years, the cost of war had been enormous, leaving not much leftover in the treasury now, and it was impossible to spend it all on medicinal materials.

"Do you have any good ideas?"

Knowing the state of the treasury, Yang Chenghua understood the Emperor’s meaning. Looking at his silent colleagues, he sighed internally, knowing he would have to play the villain again, "Your Majesty, in times of national crisis, it is every man’s duty to help. Your servant believes we can encourage the medicine merchants to donate."

If this news got out, he feared he would be despised by all the major medicine merchants.

Upon hearing this, the Emperor pondered with downcast eyes. The suggestion was a good one, but the major medicine merchants all had the backing of aristocratic families who were slippery and might not contribute much medicinal material in the end.

Even if it’s a little, it’s still better than nothing.

The Emperor had intended to assign the task to Jiang Zhengqing, the Princely Heir of Duke Cheng’en’s household, since the Jiang Family was at the forefront of aristocratic families. With the Jiang Family stepping up, the other families were likely to show some respect and contribute.

However, when court convened the next day, Jiang Zhengqing, having received the news in advance, had asked for sick leave.

Seeing the empty spot where Jiang Zhengqing should have been, the Emperor’s dissatisfaction with the Jiang Family reached its peak.

Over the years, the Jiang Family had enjoyed the supreme honor that came with being related by marriage to the Emperor, yet they had never fulfilled their corresponding duties. On the contrary, they had frequently opposed him, thwarting him at every turn.

Very well, very well indeed!

In the end, the Emperor had no choice but to assign the task to Wu Jingyi of the Military Commission.

...

Because of Dongli and Caiju, Gu Jian was aware of the news from Beijing.