Chapter 42 first quarter

Recently, they often sat around in Zhao Long's ward discussing government affairs and talking about the news of the Northern Expedition, including everything that was shocking, ridiculous, and indignant, but there was very little to cheer about.This is also a small "Jingfu Room". Although it does not have the power to dictate and issue orders, it has judgments and analyzes that are more in line with the actual situation and actual needs. Zhao Long survived the initial dangerous period and finally stopped hemoptysis, but left many sequelae. Now the medical officer Xing Liang is the guest who visits Liu's house most frequently.He worked tirelessly and willingly took the risk of being complained, blamed or even reprimanded by the patients. He checked Zhao Long's pulse every two or three days and prescribed prescriptions meticulously, even if he only changed one or two medicines. , You have to think carefully for half an hour.

Xing Liang is an old doctor with a gentle temper on the surface, but a strong heart on the inside.People who don't know him think he is a cotton dumpling, but those who know him say he is like a piece of ginger, and ginger gets hotter with age. As a doctor, he has no right to choose the patient, as long as he sends Ma Jin, he has to go to see the pulse.Gao Qiu and Tong Guan are his patients, and his responsibility is to cure all patients, including the heinous dignitaries; as a dignified person, he has the right to choose his own among the patients. Friends, including patients who did not give him makin.

For example, Shishi's strict teacher and loving father He Laodi are his sick family and bosom friend without Ma Jin.When Xing Liang mentioned this old man He in front of his friends.He respectfully called him "the chivalrous man in the wind and dust", and earnestly told his teacher that once there is a priority, the only way to be reliable is to go to Father He.As if he had insight into human diseases, this veteran doctor also had insight into social diseases.He believed that during the Zheng and Xuan years, the long-term chronic disease of this dynasty had become an incurable disease, and the coming of misfortune might be just around the corner.At his own age, and without a wife and children, he only worried about his teacher.He cared about Shi Shi's political life as if he cared about her healthy life. He was afraid that she would inevitably suffer disaster if she relied on the court, so he had prepared a way out for her.Maybe he vaguely realized that once something happens, the security force that can protect Shi Shi does not come from the court and upper class who cannot protect himself, but lies in the wind and dust.He was also vaguely aware of what a terrible scene would be if the big storm came.It's a pity that as a doctor, he can't prescribe a prescription that can cure the chronic diseases of society.

Xiao Guansuo is another good friend he selected from the patient's family. Such a coincidental thing happened: Li Bao and Gao Qiu, a pair of friends, happened to need him urgently on the same day and at the same time.Gao Qiu sent four or five officials, Yuhou, and later his son Sujia.But he went to see Li Bao's illness first, and then went to Gao Qiu's house after the treatment.His balance is this: Gao Qiu is born with a disease of riches and honor, and he will not die in a short time. He will not delay the big event if he goes late. The venue for the performance. Later, Gao Qiu found out why he was late, and couldn't help being furious.But all the dignitaries value their own lives most and dare not offend the doctor.They had no choice but to vent their grievances on Li Bao, and ordered him to suspend performances for three days with an excuse.

Now, Zhao Long has become his friend picked out from the patient's home. Their association had an unusual process.Initially, Zhao Long didn't particularly respect him, and was even disgusted.In order to gain his friendship, Xing Liang did not hesitate to sacrifice his self-esteem, which he valued so much, and endured his bad temper.His balance is like this, he can never tolerate the slightest disrespect from the powerful, but if the patient who insulted the powerful insults him, he will be happy.Because the person who dares to challenge the powerful is the arsenic in the medicine. The arsenic is so strong that it can kill the silverfish in society. As for himself, he has to avoid arsenic.

Zhao Long couldn't bear the torment of the disease for a long time. Every time he saw the doctor, he would ask anxiously: "I can still eat and sleep soundly. Is this disease cured?" "Not yet! Not yet! How can I get better so soon!" Xing Liang patiently answered the patient, wrinkling his wrinkled eyelids, "Qiu is so childish. I said, in three to five months I can’t live without the bed!” He knew that this honest sentence might arouse a strong reaction from the patient, so he hurriedly left him and warned Mrs. Liu Qi and Erniang, “Take good care of him, don’t teach him to eat too much. I'm full, don't get out of bed, don't lose your temper. Qian Jue has another attack, and I have no choice but to roll my eyes to the sky."

Because of Xing Liang's medical skills and character, he established a lofty prestige in the Liu family.This warning is strictly, even enforced.It causes the patient to suffer great grievances.Zhao Long had always preferred to treat the night as a sheet and the earth as a straw mat, and sleep on the battlefield where the bones were everywhere and the green phosphorous was shining.Otherwise, let him doze off on the back of the slow-moving horse (several days of marching and fighting sometimes make him so tired that he can sleep on the horse).Otherwise, let him sleep comfortably overnight on the pit with his hands and feet stretched out.In short, anywhere is better than a hospital bed.Zhao Long's hard bones were rolled in the sand and gravel, and they were cast from the melt of knives, guns and arrows.He is born to deal with soil, stone, pig iron, and wrought copper, but he is afraid that his life will gradually be softened and corroded in the warm and soft brocade.

He can no longer stay in the hospital bed, which has been a focus of his recent struggles. He was anxious and resentful, and would scold the mountain gate, others, and himself when he was not satisfied.Xing Liang was his first punching bag. He scolded the plague doctor for never giving him a good medicine, and scolded the doctor himself for having a plague that was neither life nor death, and forced others to suffer from the plague with him.One day he came up with a mean line. "Even if a woman raises a child, it is considered a full month after giving birth for a month. I have slept for many days. Haven't I slept enough?"

The phrase was a fresh invention of his.In the future, when he sees Xing Liang, he will ask. "Doctor Xing, I have to sit for a few more days before the full moon is considered?" "Calculating the days, I haven't sat until the full moon!" Xing Liang still answered him patiently, "I think if I sit for another two months, I may not be able to get up." But Xing Liang only came once a few days, which was far from satisfying his desire for sarcasm.He pointed the spearhead of the struggle at his daughter who was by his side day and night.This hero who once dominated the battlefield, now uses all his powers to torture his daughter.He thinks of all kinds of reasons to lose his temper with his daughter all day long.Sometimes his daughter was so caring, too tender, and so attentive to him, that there was no reason for him to lose his temper, and he lost his temper with her because of it.

It was the sick man's privilege to be angry with his loved ones, and he had abused this privilege by putting his daughter in a very embarrassing position. In the first month, Qiniang endured all kinds of tortures that her father gave her and her own inner torments with astonishing perseverance. This torture has finally reached such a peak.One day, when Niang was giving medicine to her father, she trembled uncontrollably and overturned the medicine bowl, spilling the medicine juice on the bedding, pillow and clothes, and also splashing on his beard. , scalding his hand.Erniang saw an evil and happy light in his eyes, because usually he was unreasonable and even made trouble, but now he really caught a reason to lose his temper.But a fiery tear fell on the back of his hand and checked his malice.He glanced at her, neither vicious nor kind, but a little ashamed and ashamed, which was a rare expression in his life.Without making a sound, he pulled up the sheet cloth and wiped his beard and hands indiscriminately, then turned around and shrank back to the pillow and fell asleep.

This was a turning point, and after this introspection, his temper improved.One day he was able to calmly put forward a reasonable request to Xing Liang: if he could not be allowed to leave the hospital bed for the time being, then he hoped that Liu Qi and Ma Kuo could tell him all the news about the war from temples, front lines, and streets and alleys. , don't hide a little bit.He said, instead of keeping the news from him and keeping him in the dark, worrying and worrying alone, it is better to tell him as much as possible, let him listen to the heart, scold you, and vent all the anger in his belly, which may be harmful to the sick. Some benefits.Then, he childishly made a deal with Erniang, as long as she brokered the agreement, he promised that he would never be angry with her again. "Oh! So it's for that. It turns out that all the pretentious demands he made before were all false, and the purpose was to understand the war." They thought that the old patient had gone to great lengths to make such a proposal. Sometimes a reckless patient may propose a more beneficial remedy than a wise doctor, because he knows himself better than the doctor.After Xing Liang listened to his proposal, he weighed the pros and cons, considered the pros and cons, and thought that it was reasonable and deeply in line with medical principles, so it was worth a try.So Liu Qi and Ma Kuo began to reveal to him some street news that was estimated to not hurt his spleen and stomach, and then Xing Liang himself also brought some selected behind-the-scenes news that can receive blood and nourish the spirit, such as Zhang Di has recently publicly stated to people many times that Cai Jing's family members have declined, and the officials intend to order him to return to his hometown to serve as an official.The initial response was good, and the scope of what they revealed later expanded.Mrs. Liu Qi is an expert in this area. She alone provided more news than the three of them combined.Although her source may not be reliable, and the content may not match Zhao Long's appetite, but with her brilliant tongue, she deliberately exaggerated it, but it also relieved his sullenness, and sometimes made him smile. It did help his sickness. In this way, everyone gradually got used to talking about everything before his sick bed, making this a place where they often meet, and it also became a small "care room". Zhao Long was indeed faithful to his promise.He expressed sincere gratitude to Xing Lang that only a simple person like him can have.This kind of gratitude was originally sealed in my heart, and a wave of resentment wax was poured on the seal.Once the wax of resentment melted and the seal was broken, gratitude gushed out from his heart, and it poured out thousands of miles. His temper towards his daughter has also obviously improved. Sometimes he silently watched his daughter make medicine for him and mend clothes for her husband, his eyes were full of caressing emotion, as if he wanted to express his apology to his daughter with a silent confession. He was always welcome and listened attentively to any news they brought him. The old man took everything very seriously, even if what Mrs. Liu Kai told was a nonsensical joke. One day, Mrs. Liu Kai mentioned that Wang Fu lived in extravagance since he came to the government, and that he had to bring a lot of white rice out of the rice slop that flowed out of the gutter every day.An old monk who lived in Wenbi Pujiyuan, Xiangfu, picked up rice from the gutter every day, dried it and stored it. It took less than a year to fill a large tank, and now it has filled four large tanks.Someone asked him why he refused to eat the rice after collecting it?The old monk answered well: "Take what is from the king, and return what is to the king." The man laughed and said, "Wang Dazai spends tens of millions of delicacies every day. Do you want to eat your old rice that has been soaked in water?" The monk said: "The poor monk cherishes the blessings of the Dazai. I'm afraid that one day he will not be able to eat a bowl of dried rice!" "This old monk is interesting," Zhao Long praised happily, "That guy Wang Fu doesn't let the world eat a bowl of Taiping rice, and others tell him to eat boiled rice. But this old monk is too merciful. He was not allowed to eat swill either." The front-line news brought by Ma Kuo is usually the most important, because he is directly involved in the matter, and he can always hear some clues from relevant parties.Liu Kai brought the news circulating among the court and the upper bureaucracy, which was consistent with Ma Kuo's news.What Xing Liang brought was the general reaction of people with a broader social base to the war.He said: Li Bao told him that Li Fu, the leader of the golden gun squad, and Jiang Xuan, the leader of the silver gun squad, all went to serve in the army.They said that the imperial court employs unknown people and kills heroes. What do we two go to the front line to do?They all withdrew from the army, and many officers and soldiers of the imperial army felt wronged for them. Liu Qi nodded and said: "It's true. I, Li Fu, and Jiang Xuan both recognize each other. The man who brought him is a bloody man. Now we have all returned to the Ma Junsi." Zhao Long continued to research and analyze valuable news: For example, why didn't Zhong Shidao arrive at the front line until the end of March?After Zhong Shidao arrived, the Huanqing Army led by Liu Yanqing, who has always been famous for his mistakes in marching, followed to the front line... as if he was still in the army, acting as the general councilor of the entire army. He also understood now that there was only one reason why they blocked news from him in the past and told him everything today, and that was for his health.He wants to thank everyone for that. In short, he has become reasonable.More importantly, the kind of indignation before the illness has been relatively reduced. Even when he heard the most harsh news, such as Cai You being appointed as the deputy envoy of Xuan Fu, he was able to restrain his complex. And tell everyone a joke. "After all, Uncle has a strong foundation and a good physique, so he can turn the danger into a bargain so quickly." Mrs. Liu Qi first expressed her optimistic view, and the medical officer Xing Liang also agreed with this view. However, with a more careful observation, Qiniang found that although father's anger had decreased, his contemplation had increased.Especially when her husband came back from the nursing home with news directly related to the war, father often remained silent for a while and did not immediately express his opinion.Sometimes I have to close my eyes, expressing the hope of being quiet for a while.In fact, she knew that when everyone left him, he didn't really rest, but was thinking.This kind of thinking is deep and painful.She found that he usually turned on his side all night and couldn't sleep.It is normal for the elderly to be unable to fall asleep, or to sleep for an hour or two and then unable to fall asleep again after waking up.But she knew very well that father's sleepless nights were caused by deep thinking.After such a night, on the second day, his eyes were bloodshot and his spirit was restless. When receiving them, he showed the traces of an ideological struggle that he wanted to cover up but failed to cover up. Yanniang took the time to tell Mrs. Liu Qi and Xing Liang about this discovery. Everyone speculated behind his back that he must be thinking about the factors of success and failure on the battlefield. He knew and mastered these things better than anyone else.Even the kind of teacher's way, which is somewhat obscured by selfish distractions, is not as deep and mastered as he is. From a medical point of view, Xing Liang does not approve of his solitary contemplation, thinking that it consumes a lot of effort of the patient and is not conducive to recovery, but Xing Liang can't stop him from contemplating.How could a military staff officer with a strong sense of responsibility like him completely ignore the factors of victory or defeat in a war that related to the fate of the entire army? Xing Liang once met such a patient: he was a poet, he was coughing up blood, and he wanted to write poems, and his family hid all his paper, pen, ink and ink.He said, you can confiscate my pen and paper, but how can you confiscate the poems in my head?The poet's conception is like a spring silkworm spinning silk, it will not stop until the final death comes.The family couldn't turn him around, so they had to return the pen and paper to him.His last posthumous work "Grass of Painful and Bloody Work" was painstakingly recited three or four months before his death. Now that Xing Liang encountered such a patient again, he was also at a loss what to do about it.Xing Liang once defeated Zhao Long's anger and bad temper, but could not overcome his seriousness.His seriousness was more terrifying, more irresistible than his indignation.Therefore, when Zhao Long showed such a thoughtful expression, Xing Liang had no choice but to sigh, followed everyone to exit the ward quietly, talked softly with each other, and walked carefully so as not to disturb him. Half of them guessed that he was indeed seriously considering the factors of victory and defeat on the battlefield.His logic is this: since the court's decision is irreversible, he can only consider the way to win it in the face of this fait accompli, and there is no other choice. But they didn't guess the other half—he was going through and completed a major spiritual transformation.He went from a fierce opponent of the war to an ardent concern, supporter and advocate of the war.He was not a volatile and unprincipled man, and the logic that brought about such a radical change in him was this: he could not have hoped for a victorious war that he was against.It was also his only possible option.