However, blasting a channel through to the sea was extremely difficult. This was nothing like blasting through mountains on land before. At sea, there were far more problems to consider. The first was the force of the blast and the flying debris — they could easily injure the workers. On land, they could dig tunnels and hide under iron plates, but at sea, where were they supposed to hide?
The vibrations from blasting might even cause nearby mountain bodies to loosen, and it would also affect the surrounding fishermen.
To connect directly to Hezhou, they'd have to blast flat the middle of these large mountains entirely and carve out a path. From the map, it was at least two li—a massive project, consuming time, labor, and silver.
So Fang Zichen hadn't planned to touch it at first. But after a trip to Shangyang, he thought about it and felt it still wouldn't do. If they didn't blast the mountains, would every shipment have to waste a full three months on the road?
That affected his speed of making money.
And what he wanted to do was attract investment. Once word of the instant noodles, xuan paper, and other goods got out, merchants from outside would come to buy them on their own. But if the place was too far, who would be willing to make the trip?
Merchants on their side also had difficulty purchasing goods, so supplies were scarce.
If this problem wasn't solved, Hezhou would still struggle to develop.
If the water route were opened, future generations' travel would be convenient, and the people of Hezhou wouldn't be trapped in this remote place.
Fang Zichen planned to go to Anxi County himself to take a look. Zhao Ger wasn't at ease and wanted to go with him. He knew that ever since the trip to Beilu County, Fang Zichen had been in low spirits.
The policy misstep had left him blaming himself.
That day when the common folk led their oxen to sell, in their worn-out clothes, skin and bones—it made Fang Zichen feel deeply guilty.
He hadn't gone to Beilu County to inspect in person back then, only issued orders. He controlled the general direction and knew the common folk were poor and couldn't produce silver, so they'd buy on credit first, with the government advancing the silver. But the result was—he'd nearly starved the common folk to death. Without experience, one truly couldn't attend to every aspect and handle everything perfectly. Though the Beilu County magistrate, as the local parent official, couldn't escape responsibility either, Fang Zichen's responsibility was greater.
Fang Zichen felt he'd learned his lesson. In the future, he must think thrice before acting, and be cautious and careful.
Now that he was actually thinking about doing real work without needing anyone to prod him, Zhao Ger felt quite gratified. But he also knew Fang Zichen still had a child's temperament, and he wouldn't feel at ease not going along.
---
In the middle of the eleventh lunar month, Tang Daniang, as captain, rode day and night at full speed, and after more than half a month, finally led her troops to the southern border.
When a soldier came to report, the Qin family was eating.
Old General Qin frowned slightly: "A squad of girls and gers?"
"Yes."
"It's Sister Tang." Guaizai held his bowl, his mouth stuffed full like a hamster, his face greasy all the way to his forehead. He said, "Quick, let them in!"
The soldier looked toward Old General Qin, and seeing him nod, responded and went out.
Tang Daniang brought her people to pay respects. Along the way, many veteran Qin soldiers stopped to watch.
How could there be girls and gers in the military camp?
And look at how they were dressed — all of them wore dark red, form-fitting riding outfits with black cloud-patterned sashes at the waist, their black hair tied up. They looked crisp and sharp, their eyes confident and resolute, with a touch of heroic grace. Their steps were vigorous and steady; they didn't look like ordinary girls and gers at all.
Everyone kept their gazes straight ahead, looking somewhat travel-worn. Upon seeing Guaizai, they immediately saluted: "Greetings to the young master."
Guaizai was happy to see familiar faces and ran over to take Tang Daniang's hand: "Sister Tang, you've come."
Tang Daniang smiled and patted his head: "We're late. Young master, please don't blame us."
Old General Qin could tell at a glance that these girls and gers were trained. But the other side had only about a hundred people, and they'd come all the way from Hezhou. Did his Qin army lack those hundred people?
No.
Old General Qin suddenly remembered—the letter from Xia Jinghong the month before last. The Hezhou flood, the rescue team......
He slapped his thigh in delight.
Good that they came, good that they came — they were a timely rain.
Lu Zhenghe seemed to have gone mad. In recent days his attacks had been fierce. The Chao Kingdom's second prince had personally led troops to attack the left flank, and Deputy General Lin had fought him several times.
In war, there's no avoiding the dead and wounded.
The wounded were sent back one after another, endlessly.
Many didn't even get treated in time and just lay there. Others got only simple treatment before being tossed aside. Lao Jiang and his team simply couldn't keep up. Guaizai often went to help. He saw wounded soldiers with cracked, parched lips, unconscious; others clutching their severed arms, moaning softly. The air in the tents was thick and foul. The severely wounded were basically just lying there waiting to die.
Watching it made Guaizai anxious. He came back red-eyed and asked Old General Qin — couldn't they bring in physicians from outside?
Those uncles were all going to die.
They couldn't just stand by and watch them die!
But where could they find so many physicians? Ordinary physicians couldn't "treat" this kind of illness either.
Lao Jiang counted as a military physician. Seeing people with severed hands and feet, he wasn't scared at all—long since accustomed to it. But outside physicians couldn't handle it. They usually treated common folk—just headaches and fevers, taking pulses and prescribing medicine. Where would they have seen such bloody scenes?
Earlier, Qin Hengxuan had conscripted quite a few physicians from outside, but the result was—some people, seeing soldiers severely wounded and covered in blood, they immediately panicked and their breath turned short.
They were called physicians, but in truth they were just ordinary common folk. Faced with such scenes, who wouldn't be afraid?
Though Hengyang was wealthy, it still only had a few medical halls. Qin Hengxuan didn't dare conscript them all, or who would treat the common folk?
In the end, he could only draft people from Hengyang, Shangyang, Xiayang, and several nearby prefectural cities — twenty in total. Of them, nine went into the wounded soldiers' camp once, and came out with faces white as paper, legs trembling so hard they left afterimages when they walked. One had even wet himself. Qin Hengxuan had them sent straight back. The rest were all assigned to the front lines.
But it still wasn't enough.
Tang Daniang and the others didn't rest either—they went straight to the wounded soldiers' camp with Guaizai.
Some wounded soldiers were already bandaged, but Tang Daniang took one look and peeled the bandages right off. Medicine had been applied to the wound, but the edges were red and swollen. With a light press, yellow pus immediately oozed out. She felt the forehead — it was hot enough to fry an egg on.
This was infection.
Lao Jiang had no idea who they were, or why they'd barged in and started handling the wounded. If they had an issue, they could come at him! He definitely wouldn't hold back. He was about to shout at them when Old General Qin raised a hand to stop him.
Tang Daniang immediately ordered her people to boil water, then went over to Lao Jiang to borrow a scraping knife.
"Give it to her," Old General Qin said. He wanted to see just how capable the other party was.
Lao Jiang simply handed over the medical chest.
Liu Ger had already lit the candles. The two worked together with perfect tacit understanding. Once the scraping knife was sterilized, Tang Daniang cut away the rotting flesh directly. Yellow and brown blood mixed together — bloody and disgusting to look at, but Tang Daniang didn't even blink, as if she had long grown used to it.
Old General Qin couldn't help but nod in admiration.
Good.
Better than that earlier bunch of physicians.
The wounded soldier screamed in agony, thrashing violently. Two gers came over at once, stuffed a corncob in his mouth, and pinned him down.
Several of them had an extremely fierce and intimidating bearing, looking more like thugs about to rob someone.
Lao Jiang and Old General Qin could not help but swallow nervously.
Once the rotten flesh was scraped clean, Lao Jiang watched as Liu Ger took a bottle of something unknown from his own bundle. He dipped a bit of cotton wool in it and wiped it over the wound. The soldier's eyes bulged, his limbs went rigid, his head lolled to the side, and he passed out cold.
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