Under the glow of kerosene lamps, Chang'an gradually transformed into a city that never slept. However, Liu Xun's ambitions remained hidden on the surface. He knew that industrialisation would inevitably result in intense labour and war, causing numerous injuries and deaths. Furthermore, the people of this era were deeply superstitious about witch doctors, and even a minor wound infection could prove fatal for a skilled craftsman. Liu Xun said, 'I can forge steel, and I can mend bodies.' Inside the Imperial Medical Bureau, the bitter smell of medicine filled the air. Chief Physician Zhang shook his head at a soldier from the agricultural reclamation corps whose thigh had been shattered by a broken connecting rod in Dragon's Breath Valley, as he led a group of disciples. The soldier's face was deathly pale, and the wound had turned black and was festering, emitting a foul stench. 'This is a case of deep-seated inflammation, beyond the reach of medicine,' sighed Physician Zhang. 'Only fate will decide. We must prepare for the worst.' Just then, the door was suddenly pushed open and Liu Xun appeared, dressed in a tight-fitting outfit. He was followed by several Hidden Dragon Guards carrying specially made wooden boxes. A chilling wind carrying his imperial aura instantly swept through the room.
'Leave it to fate?' My Great Han! Fate is with me, not with these rotten dregs of medicine!' Liu Xun walked to the sickbed, adopting his "top-tier performance: the calm god of surgery". His eyes held no disgust, only an almost mechanical precision.
[System Command] Activate 'Medical Side Quest: Basic Surgical Simulation".
Core Tools: Stainless steel scalpel, mulberry bark sutures, high-concentration distilled alcohol.
Environmental requirements: Carbolic acid spray (basic disinfection)
Shadowless lamp (replaced by mirror array)
System warning: The concentration of the local anaesthetic (Datura flower extract) requires precise control.
'Doctor Zhang, do you think this is leprosy?' Liu Xun took a thin, cicada-wing-like stainless steel scalpel out of the box and held it over the fire. 'Let me tell you, it's tiny demonic insects gnawing at the flesh. Since medicine won't work, I'll personally cut away the rotten flesh and sew up the blood vessels!' The imperial physicians turned pale and knelt down. 'Your Majesty, you mustn't! This will damage the dragon's energy, and throughout history, there has never been a case of flesh being stitched up!' Liu Xun didn't waste any words. He ordered the Hidden Dragon Guards to seal off the entire area, then poured a bowl of concentrated anaesthetic into the soldiers' mouths. Once the soldiers were unconscious, Liu Xun began the operation. His hands were as steady as a rock. With the aid of system visual assistance, he made incisions that avoided the aorta, precisely removing the necrotic tissue. When blood gushed forth, he remained calm and swiftly clamped the blood vessels with specially made hemostatic forceps, precisely crafted by the Gewu Institute.
"Watch closely; this is called suturing." Liu Xun picked up a thread as thin as a hair that had been soaked in alcohol. His fingertips danced among the flesh in a unique rhythm that bordered on cruel beauty. The previously bulging wound was perfectly aligned under his needle. 'Vascular alignment, ligation; muscle repositioning, deep suturing. Skin alignment, needle removal.' A quarter of an hour later, the bloody hole that had seemed to be a death sentence had transformed into a neat, dark red line. When Liu Xun put down his scalpel and removed his blood-stained gloves, the entire Imperial Medical Bureau fell deathly silent. Physician Zhang, trembling, checked the soldier's pulse. Though weak, it was steady and strong. Most miraculously of all, the ceaseless flow of blood had indeed been 'locked' in by those thin lines.
'This... this is divine intervention!' Physician Zhang fell to his knees with a thud, striking the blue bricks with his forehead. 'I, your humble servant, was narrow-minded and nearly caused the death of a brave soldier. Please punish me, Your Majesty!' "
[System Prompt]
[Surgical Concept] Successfully implanted into the Han Dynasty Medical System.
[Imperial Medical Bureau Loyalty] Soars to 98%.
[Penicillin Original Strain Clue] and [Human Anatomy Atlas (Standard Edition)] unlock subsequent rewards.
Liu Xun took the damp towel and wiped the bloodstains from his face. He swept his sharp gaze over the young imperial medical disciples and said,
'From today onwards, the Gewu Academy will establish a Medical Officer Department. You are no longer permitted to study only classical prescriptions. You must learn to identify bones, blood vessels and even invisible insects. The doctors I need are warriors who can snatch people from the jaws of death, not bookworms who can only prescribe remedies.'
He walked out of the Imperial Medical Bureau and looked at the rising sun over Chang'an City. He knew that he had not only closed a wound, but also allayed the people of the Han Dynasty's fear of 'birth, ageing, sickness and death'.
In March, the gentle breezes of spring should have arrived in Guanzhong, but instead a sudden plague brought chill to the bones. In Pinyang County, a settlement for displaced people, a disease accompanied by high fever and swollen lymph nodes was spreading. Not only did the local powerful families refuse to provide relief, they also shut their doors to visitors and burned so-called 'exorcism talismans' outside the city, leaving the people to die in despair. However, they were unaware that Liu Xun had been waiting for this moment for a long time. He wanted more than just a cure: he wanted to establish the era's most terrifying war support system, comprising field hospitals and an epidemic prevention system.
In the restricted area behind the Gewu Academy, the residual heat of the steam engine was channelled into a complex array of condenser tubes. Liu Xun stood before a massive bronze vat. The air was filled with an intensely pungent aroma, enough to instantly sober anyone up.
[System Reward Distribution]: Alcohol Purification Process – Multi-stage Fractionation Method. The current product is 95% high-purity ethanol. Core uses: instrument disinfection, wound cleaning and physical cooling.
[Derivative Reward]: 'Basic Medical Gauze Degreasing Technology'.
Wearing a simple mask, Gongshu Qi carefully caught a drop of crystal-clear liquid and asked, 'Your Majesty, this wine... its aroma is intoxicating, and it ignites instantly. Can it really kill those invisible 'demonic insects'?"
'This is not wine; this is the second life I have saved for the soldiers of the Han Dynasty.' Liu Xun dipped a scalpel into the liquid and a blue flame instantly flashed, its cold light chilling.
When Liu Xun arrived in Pinyang County with a team of 'medical examiners' wearing white linen coats and multi-layered filtered masks, they were stopped by servants of powerful clans and superstitious commoners. 'Your Majesty, have mercy! This is divine punishment sent down by our ancestors. Disturbing a corpse will incur divine retribution!' A powerful clansman knelt in the middle of the road; behind him stood hundreds of ignorant people wielding hoes.
Liu Xun dismounted and began his 'Top Performance: Iron-Blooded Commander" performance. Rather than offering words of comfort, he brandished his whip directly at the mountain of rotting corpses. 'Destiny? My word is destiny! Hidden Dragon Guards, heed my command: anyone who obstructs epidemic prevention, conceals patients or spreads rumours will be executed without exception! The county will be divided into red, yellow and green isolation zones. Entry to and exit from these zones requires alcohol spray disinfection!' This marked the first instance of 'scientific and violent isolation' in the history of the Han dynasty. Under the dual threat of crossbow bolts and strong liquor, chaotic Pinyang County was forcibly brought into a standardised epidemic prevention framework. The first standardised 'field hospital' was built in an open area outside the county town. It was no longer a dark, damp tent, but a neat barracks with a lime moisture-proof layer and good ventilation. Liu Xun personally formulated the 'Field Medical Operation Specifications':
- Triage system: separating lightly wounded, seriously wounded and infected patients to prevent cross-infection
- Mandatory disinfection: medical officers must wash their hands with alcohol before and after contact with patients and instruments must be boiled in water and then soaked in alcohol
- Nutritional intervention: large-scale distribution of concentrated saline-sugar water and boiled clean water '
"Quick! Wipe the wound with alcohol to cool it down, stitch it up, and then seal it with calcined lime powder!' Liu Xun moved back and forth in the barracks, his calm and professional demeanour providing everyone with a sense of stability. When the news reached the frontier, the Han soldiers were in an uproar.
In the past, a knife wound on the battlefield often meant a death sentence, but now every thousand-strong Han army unit was equipped with a 'battlefield first aid kit' containing clean white gauze, sharp sutures and a small bottle of 'miracle water' — alcohol.
[Real-time System Data Feedback] Mortality rate in Pinyang County: Plummeted from 75% to 12%.
- Infection rate after injury in the Han army: Decreased by 85%.
Morale and cohesion: Breaking historical records!
'Long live His Majesty! The Han Dynasty is invincible!' In the quarantine zone of Pinyang County, people who had once hated Liu Xun watched their loved ones recover from the brink of death. They knelt and wept bitterly. Liu Xun walked through the crowd, adopting his "Best Actor PR" persona. He helped an elderly farmer to his feet and let the farmer clutch his sleeve with his mud-covered hands.
'I don't believe in ghosts or gods; I only believe in my people, the people of my Great Han.' Liu Xun's words spread throughout the land via the Great Han Daily. Those powerful figures who had originally intended to exploit the epidemic for their own purposes were seized with an unprecedented fear when they looked at the bottles of clear alcohol. Though not poisonous, this substance was far more terrifying, utterly crushing the 'divine authority' they had used to deceive the people.
Not only did local powerful figures refuse to help, they also seized the opportunity to annex land, claiming it was divine retribution for the Emperor's excessive use of the 'investigation of things' (格物) technique, which they said had disturbed the dragon's spirit. The people were gripped by panic; some even stormed government offices, shouting, "Abolish the 'investigation of things' technique! Offer sacrifices to Heaven to atone for our sins!' 'Your Majesty, Guandong is a land of tigers and wolves, rife with plague! You must not go there!' In front of the Weiyang Palace, the Grand Marshal and his ministers knelt for a long time. Liu Xun wore a black cloak and carried a fine steel short sword, a symbol of power, at his waist; his eyes radiated a fearsome resolve. He activated his 'Top Performance: Lone Hero', his voice echoing through the palace. 'My people weep on the road to the Yellow Springs, while I burn incense in the deep palace. If investigating things is sorcery, then I will personally venture into this demonic fog and see if Heaven truly intends to destroy my Great Han!"
[System Global Mission Activated: Combat the Epidemic in Guandong]
[Core Reward Distribution]
Herd Immunity Aura (Active Activation):
[Aura Effect]: Within a five-mile radius of the host, all individuals with loyalty above 60% will have their immunity increased by 500% and their viral activity suppressed by 80%.
Side effect: Large-scale consumption of national fortune points; the host must be physically present in the epicentre of the epidemic area.
Three days later, outside the gates of Xingyang, the hardest-hit area in Guandong, cries of despair filled the air. When Liu Xun's dark red banner, embroidered with the character 'Han' and a gear, appeared on the horizon, those who had been slumped on the ground awaiting death were stunned.
'Is that the Emperor's carriage?' Liu Xun wasn't riding in a sedan chair; instead, he rode a black horse and charged directly into the most dangerous refugee settlement without any heavily armoured guards. He dismounted and, amidst the horrified stares of onlookers, helped an elderly woman up from the mud. Her face was covered in pustules.
'Don't be afraid, I'm here.' At that moment, herd immunity activated at full power.
In a dimension invisible to the naked eye, the virus that had been spreading wildly in the air instantly disintegrated upon approaching within five miles of Liu Xun, as if it had hit an invisible wall of fire. Meanwhile, the previously dying refugees felt an unprecedented coolness permeate their lungs and their breathing became easier.
"Look carefully, everyone! This isn't divine punishment; it's illness!' Standing atop the highest point of the Xingyang city walls before tens of thousands of civilians and powerful scouts observing from afar, Liu Xun accepted the alcohol and scalpel handed to him by the physician.
He grabbed the corpse of a patient recently deceased from the virus and publicly dissected its swollen lymph nodes, spraying them with alcohol. "Look! This oozing pus is demonic energy! I'll burn it with strong liquor, cut it with a steel knife, and it will vanish into thin air!' As the alcohol flared blue under the torches, Liu Xun's figure appeared tall and sacred in the firelight. Those who had clamoured for a 'sacrifice to heaven' collapsed to the ground in terror. 'A miracle! It truly is a miracle! Wherever His Majesty goes, the plague recedes!' The people knelt as the 'recovery' was amplified by the aura of divine intervention, making Liu Xun seem like a war god sent by Heaven to dispel the plague.
"Issue my decree! All counties in Guandong must establish 'epidemic prevention camps', and all personnel must be vaccinated with attenuated vaccines!" Standing on a battlefield littered with corpses, Liu Xun's eyes were cold and icy. He had used this plague to shatter the last line of defence of the local tyrants, who had relied on superstition.
[System Data Real-Time Feedback]
Guandong Loyalty Value: Surges to 99 (Die-hard Loyalty).
Wealthy Grassroots Organisations: Completely collapsed due to superstition.
[Medical Research]: Upgraded to the Cornerstone of the Nation
'Master Du, didn't you say you were going to offer sacrifices to Heaven?' Liu Xun looked coldly at the powerful clan leader being dragged out of the cellar by the Hidden Dragon Guards. 'I have already invited "Heaven" down. Now it's time for you to go down and meet your ancestors and explain why you poisoned the people's well water and incited unrest.' Under the setting sun, Liu Xun's shadow stretched out extremely long. Relying on the system's 'halo' and his Oscar-worthy 'courage', he had completed the deepest power restructuring of the Han Dynasty in this battle against the natural disaster. The plague was receding and the Han Dynasty's influence was spreading to every village, alongside medical officers carrying medicine chests and wearing badges.
Liu Xun knew that achieving "herd immunity" just once would not guarantee the long-term stability of the Han Dynasty. In order to win over the hearts of the people and build a healthy population for future industrial expansion, he realised that he needed a medical organisation that transcended the imperial court and reached the grassroots level.
Inside the Weiyang Palace, the Grand Minister of Agriculture looked at the account books and said, face twitching, 'Your Majesty, look! The construction of the Qin Straight Road, the building of the Great Han Ship and the development of the steam engine have already emptied the national treasury. Now you want to establish 'medical clinics' in every prefecture across the country. This money..."
'The national treasury may be empty, but I am not.' Liu Xun waved his hand, slamming a thick stack of salt and iron share certificates, as well as dividends from the refined salt trade, onto the table. He began his 'top-tier performance as a benevolent ruler who generously distributes wealth', his eyes gleaming with compassion.
'This is my private fortune, accumulated from selling white salt and refined steel. Based on this money, I hereby issue an edict to establish the 'Great Han Red Cross Society', whose motto is: 'Regardless of friend or foe, we save only the common people.'" All citizens of the Han dynasty who join the medical clinic will have their consultation fees halved and their medication costs covered by the public treasury!'
[System Command]: 'Activate the Social Security Branch—Public Welfare Medical Matrix.' Its core symbol is a red cross on a white background (symbolising haemostasis and the precision of a crosshair). Its organisational structure is directly under the imperial court and independent of local administration. It possesses 'priority passage on the battlefield'.
Technology implantation: Standardisation of basic stretchers, widespread use of first-aid tourniquets and patient triage cards. A month later, the first group of 'medical pioneers', identifiable by their white armbands bearing red crosses, appeared on the streets of Chang'an. Rather than being itinerant doctors ringing bells, they were professional teams carrying leather first-aid kits and marching in unison. People pointed at the medical personnel and exclaimed, 'Look, that's His Majesty's "Red Tenth Army"!' The Red Cross flag, personally designed by Liu Xun, fluttered in the wind. It was more than just a symbol; it was an extension of power. All Red Cross members had received 'basic surgery' and 'hygiene and epidemic prevention' training from the Gewu Academy. They travelled deep into remote mountain villages to set up temporary medical stations. To promote the Red Cross, Liu Xun organised a shocking 'medical drill'.
On the drill field, he arranged for two teams of 'death row inmates' to face off. Once they were covered in wounds, Red Cross medical officers quickly entered the field. Liu Xun himself joined in, cleaning the wounds with alcohol and stopping the bleeding with 'standardised suturing techniques' in full view of everyone. "Under the Red Cross, there are no criminals, only patients." Standing in a pool of blood with his white robe stained red, Liu Xun adopted the persona of 'a guide to civilisation'. "I want the world to know that the sword of the Han dynasty can conquer land, but the Red Cross of the Han dynasty can conquer hearts!" This scene was witnessed by Kushan Empire spies hidden in the crowd. Rather than feeling mercy, they felt a chilling coldness: an empire with formidable fighting power and the ability to rapidly heal the wounded would be invincible.Liu Xun wasn't just doing charity work; he used the name of the Red Cross to set up 'standardised medicinal herb collection stations' across the country. Rare medicinal herbs, which had previously been scattered among powerful clans, now flocked to the Red Cross in search of 'righteousness' and 'imperial treasury subsidies'.
[System Notification]:
[Social Cohesion]: Increased to 98%.
[Basic Hygiene Coverage Rate]: Increased from 0.1% to 15%.
Unlock subsequent rewards: Natural Latex Collection Guide (Southeast Asia) (can be used to make surgical gloves and IV tubing).
'Your Majesty, the powerful clans also wish to donate money to the Red Cross in the hope of becoming "honorary presidents",' a Hidden Dragon Guard reported in a low voice.
Liu Xun sneered, wiping the alcohol from his hands. 'Trying to buy fame?' 'Sure, make them hand over the land management rights of their homes according to the amount of their donations. This is called 'trading land for lives'."
Under the setting sun, Red Cross flags fluttered across the Guanzhong Plain. Standing atop the city wall, Liu Xun looked at the vibrant red, knowing that this was not only a public service, but also a 'gentle cut' to dismantle the power of the grassroots clans completely and reap the last remaining value from the powerful.
In early morning Chang'an, alongside the sound of horses' hooves on Qin Straight Road and the lingering smoke from extinguished kerosene lamps, a new sound could be heard that had never been heard before in the Han dynasty: the rhythmic recitation of hundreds of children. Liu Xun stood on the high platform of the Weiyang Palace, gazing into the distance at the bungalow in the western suburbs that had been built using special funds from the imperial treasury. Hanging there was a couplet that shocked all the conservative Confucian scholars: 'Those who enter this gate are all equal; those who graduate from this school are national heroes.' 'Your Majesty, I have made the calculations. Providing these three thousand peasant children with food, clothing, shelter, winter clothes and teachers would cost as much as equipping a heavy cavalry battalion each month!" The Grand Minister of Agriculture held the abacus, his beard trembling with heartache. Leaning back on the dragon throne, Liu Xun toyed with a newly produced pencil from the Institute of Natural Sciences, adopting the persona of a wise strategist: 'Heavy cavalry can only guarantee ten years of peace on the borders of our Great Han, but these three thousand literate, numerate children who understand natural science can ensure the Great Han's hegemony for three hundred years.'
[System Command]: Activate Primary Compulsory Education.
School Management: Military-style management; free room and board; de-clan-based ideology.
Curriculum: Basic literacy (simplified vernacular version), Great Han arithmetic (including double-entry bookkeeping) and general knowledge of natural science (basic physics and geography).
Core incentive: Students with excellent grades will have their entire families exempted from corvée labour, and graduates can be recommended directly to the 'Institute of Natural Sciences' or the 'Red Cross'.
In the slums and refugee camps of Chang'an, Red Cross medical officers and agricultural reclamation corps soldiers were searching house to house. 'Fellow villager, stop hiding! Send your second child to Chang'an's First Primary School!" a soldier shouted. 'Sir, spare my life! My child still needs to cut grass in the fields and herd sheep for the landlord!' The old farmer huddled in a corner, terrified.
At that moment, a doctor wearing a white armband bearing a red cross approached him, handing him a fragrant steamed bun and a contract bearing the imperial seal. 'Go to school. You will receive three meals a day, including meat. As long as your child can recognise one hundred characters, this 'Exemption from Corvée Labour' is yours.' The old farmer took the bun, his hands trembling, then looked at the contract with the red seal and suddenly knelt down. 'Thank you, Your Majesty! Thank you, Your Majesty!' This scene played out throughout Chang'an. Liu Xun used the most straightforward 'survival incentive' to forcibly remove children, who were regarded as 'reserve labour' by powerful landlords, from the outdated clan system. The atmosphere at gatherings of aristocratic families was extremely oppressive at this time. 'He's teaching those lowly commoners to read! He's actually teaching them to read!' The enraged Du family head smashed his jade cup to pieces. 'The classics are the torch of our civilisation, passed down for centuries, and now he's throwing it into the pigsty!' 'Not only that,' added another family head, his face pale. 'I've inquired. He isn't teaching the Book of Rites at all. He's teaching those children how to calculate leverage and yield per acre, and how to identify ores. When these children grow up, they won't listen to our 'enlightenment' at all!' Standing by the window, Liu Xun listened to the system relay the powerful families' despair and smiled coldly, activating 'Top Performance: Era Crusher.'
'If you monopolise power through book collections, then I'll make books cheaper than dirt. If you pass on official positions through bloodlines, then I'll make knowledge the only ladder.' Liu Xun personally entered the classroom at the First Elementary School. Hundreds of children dressed in neat blue shirts stared wide-eyed at the legendary emperor. Instead of taking his place on the platform, he casually picked up a piece of chalk and drew a circle and a horizontal line on the blackboard. 'Children, this is called a lever. Give me a fulcrum and I can move Mount Tai.'
[System Prompt]
[Cultural Fault Repair] Progress: 40%
Underlying loyalty: Locked (max). Unlocking subsequent rewards: A set of standard measurement and weighing teaching aids and a simplified version of the basic chemistry periodic table.
Looking at the children's thirst for knowledge, Liu Xun felt a surge of excitement. When they grow up, their minds will no longer be filled with thoughts of ghosts, gods or family heads, but with one belief: that science is truth and the emperor is supreme.
'Gongshu Qi, prepare small wrenches and measuring rulers for these children.' As he walked out of the school gate, the setting sun lengthened his shadow. 'The next generation of the Han Dynasty doesn't need to recite "Li Sao"; they need to be able to build trains to the Western Regions.'