Chapter 2319: Chapter 2294: Concealment
When Bai Shan finally left, he had an extra purse in his hand, followed by twenty-two people. Two of them were carried on stretchers; they were the ones brought back by General Guo last time, who were lucky to survive. Their wounds had scabbed over, but they still couldn’t walk using one leg.
Bai Shan asked the Protectorate for rice, flour, and vegetables.
The Protectorate, upon learning that he had emptied the disabled camp, snorted in anger and couldn’t help but say to his colleagues, "No wonder the general detests them so much."
Because they were truly annoying.
These people temporarily stayed in the courtyard where Bai Shan and the others lived. Twenty-two people shared two rooms, and the living conditions were poor.
Manbao came over to see them, and it took her a while to find her voice, "Can they really be vaccinated?"
The twenty-two people anxiously looked at her.
Bai Shan pulled her outside and handed her the money purse without changing a thing, saying, "It’s a bribe from the lieutenant colonel."
Manbao’s spirits lifted, feeling both curious and nervous. "We, we’re taking a bribe? Isn’t that bad..."
Bai Shan held back a laugh and said, "You can submit it to Director Xiao."
Manbao asked curiously, "Then how did you manage to bring them all back?"
Bai Shan smiled and said, "I thought the lieutenant colonel was right. If they stayed here, they might never be able to return to their hometowns until they die."
Even if they can no longer fight on the battlefield, they can still handle logistics, or even sit at the camp gate to guard it.
Moreover, Anxi is a garrison area with fields to farm, so they can do some farm work as well.
Even without settlement fees, just covering the travel expenses is a heavy burden, and this situation isn’t unique to the Anxi army.
It’s just that Anxi is further away, with a desert dividing it, making it harder for the soldiers guarding the border to return home.
Bai Shan couldn’t do more, but he could still bring a few people back home.
After thinking for a moment, Manbao agreed, but she didn’t plan to vaccinate everyone. They had to be physically fit for it.
She turned around and took their pulses. After examining all twenty-two, she turned to Bai Shan and said, "After some conditioning, up to sixteen people can be used."
Bai Shan rubbed his nose.
The twenty-two people became even more anxious.
However, Manbao kept them and prescribed medicinal diets for all to strengthen their bodies, healing wounds where necessary, and curing illnesses where needed.
As for the other six, especially the two who had their legs amputated less than two months ago, their bodies were weak, let alone getting vaccinated. If this continued, they probably wouldn’t have many years left.
Manbao could only prepare some simple herbal decoctions for them, "Take it slowly. If you take strong medicine, if anything goes wrong, it will be worse. It should be like a trickle that flows steadily."
Bai Shan asked, "If we take them, should you inform the Imperial Hospital? If we have a document from them, it will be smoother to take them."
This was because they worried General Guo might block their efforts since their relationship wasn’t good.
Manbao was concerned about this too, so she submitted a report to the Imperial Hospital, which went along with documents sent from the Protectorate to the capital.
Manbao was an official, and indeed had the authority to do this. It wasn’t an urgent military document, so she could send it along with the Protectorate’s documents.
Their speed was much faster than Manbao’s, as in twenty-two days, the document was rushed to the capital. Meanwhile, Manbao only just sent off the last batch of test subjects after twenty-two days, during which they had gained some weight.
Manbao looked at the six who did not receive the vaccination, and said, "Don’t particularly mention the vaccination to others. I have reported your names together so they can be taken along, but since you weren’t vaccinated, you’re not on the list of the Imperial Hospital."
The six were quite nervous.
Manbao said, "But the list for the Imperial Hospital will only be submitted after I return to the capital. You can travel as caregivers for your fellow soldiers."
The six looked at their own frail bodies, then turned to the noticeably stronger fellow soldiers, nodding repeatedly, promising there would be no problem, they would certainly "take good care of" their comrades.
Only then did Manbao send them back to the camp.
The people here were their own, so naturally, Manbao and her team wouldn’t say anything. So as long as they themselves didn’t say anything, the Protectorate wouldn’t investigate too thoroughly. After all, who would expect that Bai Shan and the others took the people but didn’t vaccinate them?
Manbao turned back to pack. The bedding and other items the test subjects used during this period had been burned, and the house was clean. She just had to take her notes and the collected cowpox with her.
As for the three cows, they were all healthy thanks to Manbao’s medical skills. Their cowpox had healed, and the scabs were mostly collected by Manbao and Zhou Liru. Now they were very healthy.
Unfortunately, the Protectorate did not like them. As long as they knew the cows had once had smallpox, even though Manbao said they were cured, they still refused to go near them.
Seeing this, Manbao happily and readily took the three cows back.
She said to Bai Shan, "Just right, we need a vehicle to take so many people back, especially since most are injured soldiers.
Bullock carts are also carts."
Bai Shan laughed for a while, nodding repeatedly, "Exactly."
But three bullock carts were obviously not enough, as each can hold at most six people, and three would only accommodate eighteen, so a few more carts were needed.
Fortunately, they had plenty of horses, so they just needed to hitch them to carts.
Assistant General Nie happily took on the task of arranging the carts, asking, "Are we leaving soon?"
"Yes, once the army returns home."
Assistant General Nie went out to gather news, naturally having to visit the Protectorate for such information. He came back after half an hour, excitedly telling Manbao, "It should be soon. The army has surrounded Kucha’s royal city for half a month now, besieging without attacking. It’s said that the supporting Turks were driven away by General Ashina, so now there’s no support for Kucha’s royal city. It’s believed it will be conquered shortly."
Manbao was delighted too, discussing with everyone, "Hurry up and sell the things left in your hands, and if you want to buy things, buy them quickly."
So everyone busily prepared things for their trip home.
During the day, Manbao wandered around with her friends, looking at gems, spices, and multicolored fabrics.
But she knew by now that their fabrics couldn’t be washed, nor could they come into contact with other light-colored garments when worn, as they would fade.
Initially, not knowing this, they made clothes intending to wash them before wearing, but once they did, the clothes no longer looked the same.
So Manbao and the others were curious and looked but didn’t buy.
The merchants selling fabrics seldom recommended them to them either. Central Plains fabrics were the best, with good color, skin-friendly texture, and non-fading. These people were obviously from Central Plains, so recommending fabrics to them would be foolish, even humiliating.
They preferred recommending various items inlaid with gemstones to them.
Such as various pieces of jewelry, or knives and swords.
There were also those who sold gemstones separately, but those seemed cheaper. The shrewd merchants here preferred to sell them ready-made jewelry, as that included a fee for craftsmanship.
