Chapter 2695: Imperial Arrival

Manbao’s initial exposure to battlefield medicine was with Teacher Mo, who had an exceptionally rich theoretical knowledge. Later, she studied under Imperial Doctor Fan, especially learning from him about the art of suturing, in which he had reached the pinnacle. So, Manbao’s learning began very systematically, also using personified models to simulate operations, which is how she acquired her current skills.

If it weren’t for these teachings, letting her figure it out on her own, it would have been challenging to discover these skills. Thus, she greatly admires the veteran military doctors.

The greed in Governor Niu’s heart kept surfacing. He quietly looked at Zhou Man and her two students, his eyes shining as he said, “So many good doctors, if only we could keep two of them…”

The veteran military doctor directly told him, “Don’t even think about it. These are all students from the Imperial Medicine Institute. I’ve heard that upon graduation, they either enter the Imperial Hospital or local medical offices; they’re much more prestigious than us military doctors.”

Who would be idle enough to come to the army to serve as a military doctor anyway?

Otherwise, why would Governor Niu bother to intimidate and lure at the medical hall, to eventually have to kidnap a doctor to serve temporarily as a military doctor?

A fresh military doctor standing silently nearby: …

The survival rate of the injured was even higher than what the veteran military doctor and Governor Niu had anticipated. Among the severely injured, the survival rate reached 80%, meaning four out of five survived.

Of course, this was only the second day.

As Manbao led her students in taking pulses and changing medicines, she commented to Governor Niu who came to check on the situation, “Thirteen people didn’t make it through the night.”

Governor Niu nodded and said, “That’s already very good.” If the two military doctors in his army had handled it, these people wouldn’t have been saved at all, and even if saved, most would have died immediately.

He saw General Lu lying on the bed and approached him, “How is he, will he survive?”

General Lu: …

Zhou Man stepped forward to examine him briefly, nodding slightly, “He’s recovering well. He had a mild fever last night, but today, the wound hasn’t worsened. The medicine is working well.”

The wound medicine they used was good, it included Chinese ginseng powder. Some people are insensitive to this type of medicine, causing the wound to remain red, unable to eliminate external infections, which then invade the body.

However, for others, the medicine is well-accepted. It not only stops bleeding effectively but cleanses external pathogens and allows quick recovery of the wound.

Therefore, they need to continually change the medicine based on the patient’s condition.

Fortunately, General Lu was lucky and was among those who respond well to the medicine.

Even at this moment, General Lu felt chest pain, so he quickly asked while the doctor was present, “Did my injury affect the heart vessels?”

Manbao responded to him, “You’re lucky; it was close, but it didn’t.”

The nearby veteran military doctor quickly added, “It’s because Lord Zhou’s medical skills are superb. If someone else had pulled the arrow, the person would have been injured even if they weren’t at first. Plus, that arrow has barbs and is highly damaging; generally, others wouldn’t be able to keep you, sir.”

General Lu, of course, knew that anyone hit by such an arrow in the chest or abdomen would, upon extraction, bleed profusely and not survive.

However, he felt his injury wasn’t as severe compared to Old Tang in the next room. Seeing Zhou Man go to check on other injured individuals, he quietly told Governor Niu, “My lord, Old Tang’s belly was cut open, his intestines were spilling out, blood was gushing, and he hasn’t shown any signs of movement. Do you think…”

Governor Niu glanced at Old Tang beside him, who was quite an old-timer, a centurion, and unexpectedly, he too had his belly cut open.

Governor Niu had a deep impression of him, though slick in his ways, he was decent in battle. Thus, Governor Niu sought Zhou Man to inquire about his condition.

“How is he?” Manbao sighed, “His condition is not good, his internal organs are injured. If he can endure the first five days, then he’ll survive.”

She looked at Governor Niu and said, “That’s why I said we can’t count the success rate yet. Whether people can truly survive, we’ll have to wait until they’re able to leave the medical tent.”

Governor Niu was eager to receive military merits. The number of soldiers from Goguryeo who died on the battlefield had already been tallied, and their city had been captured. All that was left was to count the casualties on his side. If the numbers were low, he could make a favorable appearance before the emperor.

Thus, he was anxious.

Just two days later, the emperor arrived; he gave Zhou Man a flattering smile, “Lord Zhou, can’t you give me an accurate count now?”

“I can’t,” Manbao replied, “It will take at least half a month.”

She was aware that soldiers who die on the battlefield receive different pensions than those who die afterward.

All soldiers who suffered injures in battle but couldn’t be saved are to be counted as fallen in battle. If she reported it now, all those who died later would be considered wounded soldiers, and the pension provided by the court would differ.

Manbao glanced at him. During the Western Expedition in the Western Regions, some soldiers who felt they couldn’t survive pleaded with her to report their injuries as more severe so that if they passed away later from sickness, it would be counted as battle death.

So she was aware of this matter.

Governor Niu: …

A Colonel rushed in, “My lord, the Chief Steward has asked you to receive the emperor; he says His Majesty has arrived.”

Manbao’s eyes lit up, “Ah, Bai Shan, they’ve arrived.”

Governor Niu didn’t expect the emperor to arrive so quickly and hurriedly ran out.

The emperor brought with him the remaining six thousand imperial guards, with the imperial entourage directly entering the city.

They stayed directly at the County Governmental Office of Hengshan County, and then the emperor began to survey Hengshan County, appeasing the people, and going out of the city to comfort the soldiers.

Then he went to the medical tents to visit the injured soldiers.

Manbao went to receive him.

Seeing so many injured soldiers, the emperor sadly sighed, but after making a round and inquiring about each one’s injury, his worry lightened significantly. He noted that the situation was better than he had anticipated since such severe injuries were being saved.

Not all wounded soldiers stayed in the medical tents; in fact, most of the wounded soldiers had light injuries. It was considered light in these parts to have just a slash or a fracture.

After bandaging wounds and setting bones, they were given some medicine and sent back to their tents.

Only those considered seriously injured by military doctors remained; these were considered moderate injuries under Zhou Man. They required constant monitoring of their vital signs.

The emperor toured once around, highly satisfied, believing that bringing the people from the Imperial Medicine Institute was indeed the right choice. He smiled at Zhou Man, “Courtier Zhou, thank you for your hard work over these days.”

Manbao bowed and replied, “It’s my duty at this time, Your Majesty.”

After a pause, she added, “Your Majesty, we have utilized a significant amount of the first batch of medicines sent to Yingzhou. The whereabouts of the second batch remain unknown, and if we proceed to attack in the coming days, our medicine might be overly consumed.”

The army couldn’t possibly cease an attack due to a lack of medical supplies, especially given that nearly seventy thousand troops were stationed here, consuming a vast amount of provisions daily. The emperor, initially intending for a swift victory, directly turned and instructed State Duke Zhao, “Have someone follow the courier routes and urge for the logistics managed by the Ministry of War to prioritize the supplies, allowing no delays. This is a matter of life and death for my seventy thousand soldiers.”

State Duke Zhao immediately complied.

The emperor coldly snorted, “If any local officials engage in unlawful acts, they may be executed first and reported later.”

For this Eastern Expedition, he had tapped into half of the national treasury. He wasn’t even sure where he’d find funds come spring next year, so anyone obstructing this Eastern Expedition was deemed his enemy.