235: Chapter 235 Lu Jia and Tian Ju coughed up blood!

Modun was still thinking about heading south to seize the eight hundred li of the Hetao Region that Meng Tian had occupied.

Now, let alone the Hetao Region, he was about to lose even the Yinshan Grassland!

"Damn it!"

Modun was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan, pacing in circles.

The pressure Zhao Fusu put on him was simply too immense.

Even the old man he had killed hadn't given him such overwhelming pressure!

This game of chess was difficult to play!

But Modun was unwilling to just surrender like this.

He knew very well that the person playing chess against him had ambitions even greater than his own.

If the opponent took the Southern Desert, they likely wouldn't let the Northern Desert go!

If they fled to the Northern Desert, they would likely have to keep fleeing!

Thinking about it made Modun feel incredibly aggrieved.

He was beyond anxious.

After thinking for a long time, Modun still hadn't come up with any good solutions.

He could only try to gather ideas from others.

Modun invited various nobles and convened a Council of Nobles.

These nobles were the elite of the elites within the Xiongnu Royal Court, serving as the think tank for the Xiongnu Kingdom.

Modun got straight to the point and explained his purpose for summoning them.

"Grand Chanyu, this..."

At the Council of Nobles, the group of nobles all wore distressed expressions.

They had long since witnessed the prowess of the Qin people.

They didn't have any particularly good ways to deal with the Qin.

If there was a better way, it would be to avoid their sharp edge.

They should quickly flee toward the Northern Desert.

"Is there really no way for us to strike back at them?!"

Modun felt extremely stifled; from the start of the war until now, two consecutive battles had ended in the defeat of their Xiongnu Royal Court.

In contrast, the Qin's power on the grasslands was growing stronger, constantly integrating the tribal forces to squeeze the Xiongnu Royal Court out of the grasslands.

"Grand Chanyu."

A Xiongnu elder spoke, his eyes flashing with a sharp light. "In the past, the Qin people would drive all our Xiongnu tribes out of their borders."

"But this time, the Qin are not doing that. Instead, they want to subjugate us Xiongnu people."

"Their continuous integration of the tribes might actually be an opportunity for us to strike back!"

"Please, explain in detail!"

Seeing his teacher speak, an interested expression appeared on Modun's face.

"The Qin want to integrate the tribes, so we simply won't let them have their way."

"We will constantly create problems for them to distract the Qin's attention."

The Xiongnu elder's eyes shimmered with a fierce light as he said, "We might even eliminate them!"

"The Right Worthy King's territory is vast, and the Qin cavalry is small in number. We can incite hundreds of tribes to resist, forcing the Qin cavalry to constantly split their forces to suppress them."

"Then we can concentrate our forces to defeat them one by one and wipe out their effective strength."

The strategy the elder described was similar to guerrilla and mobile warfare, using movement and depth to gain room to maneuver.

The Right Worthy King's territory was vast, with hundreds of tribes scattered around. They could incite them one by one to cause trouble.

As the Qin cavalry rushed around to suppress the rebellions, it would give them opportunities for harassment.

Whether it was setting traps or poisoning the Qin cavalry's water sources, these were effective ways to avoid the Qin's powerful firearms and kill them in large numbers.

"Good!"

Modun was overjoyed; he finally had a way to deal with the Qin.

Modun continued the Council of Nobles, brainstorming with his think tank to find ways to deal with Great Qin.

On Zhao Fusu's side, the situation was not good.

He received bad news.

Lu Jia and Tian Ju were coughing up blood!

After receiving the message, Zhao Fusu's first reaction was: were Lu Jia and Tian Ju wounded in the war?

He hurried to write a letter asking for detailed information.

To his surprise, Lu Jia and Tian Ju were not injured.

Besides Lu Jia and Tian Ju, Jin Tu, Qing Ying, Lie Yun, and a large number of people from the Qinglan Tribe were showing symptoms of coughing up blood, chest pain, chest tightness, and shortness of breath.

"Pneumonia?"

Zhao Fusu's expression turned grim.

If it was infectious pneumonia, it would be difficult to handle!

Zhao Fusu grit his teeth.

In ancient times with low medical standards, a minor illness could often lead to death.

If infectious pneumonia really appeared and he had no vaccines or specific medicine...

...then his base in the Southern Desert wouldn't be broken by the enemy, but would instead fall to infectious pneumonia.

"Damn it!"

Zhao Fusu sent another message, asking the accompanying physicians to find out exactly what illness Lu Jia, Tian Ju, and the people at the Qinglan Base had contracted.

Amidst Zhao Fusu's anxious waiting, a reply finally arrived.

According to the accompanying physicians, the illness Lu Jia, Tian Ju, Jin Tu, Qing Ying, and Lie Yun suffered from was a very common disease on the grasslands.

Right now it was only coughing up blood and chest pain, but in the later stages, the symptoms would turn into 'Accumulation' and 'Phlegm Kernels'.

Zhao Fusu frowned.

He didn't quite understand 'Accumulation' and 'Phlegm Kernels'.

He summoned a physician to ask what the specific symptoms of 'Accumulation' and 'Phlegm Kernels' were.

This physician was Xia Laixi, the prized disciple of the Head Physician Xia Wuche; he was in his forties.

In ancient times where heavy labor was required, ordinary people in their forties looked similar to sixty-year-old farmers.

But he maintained himself well; his skin was tight and smooth, looking like a young man in his early twenties.

"Accumulation and Phlegm Kernels refer to abnormal lumps or masses in our lungs."

Physicians of the Qin Dynasty already knew about the organ called the lungs.

During this period, there was a medical work called the 'Internal Canon', which clearly proposed the methodology of 'dissection' and used organ names that are still in use today.

Pre-Qin physicians, through human dissection, did not limit themselves to observing human structure but also included the understanding of organ functions. For example, the 'Internal Canon' contains certain descriptions of blood circulation and nerve distribution; while these descriptions were not as precise as modern anatomy, they were already very advanced medical knowledge at the time.

"Abnormal lumps or masses in the lungs!"

Zhao Fusu thought to himself that the illness Lu Jia, Tian Ju, Jin Tu, Qing Ying, and Lie Yun suffered from was a very common disease on the grasslands.

Could it be that this illness is...!

A faint guess formed in Zhao Fusu's heart.

"Xia Laixi."

Zhao Fusu handed the letter containing the symptoms of Lu Jia, Tian Ju, Jin Tu, Qing Ying, and Lie Yun to Xia Laixi.

"Look at this. Is the illness they have common in our Great Qin?"

"Yes!"

After taking the letter, Xia Laixi said, "This illness is relatively common among herdsmen."

"Is it also easy to contract this disease if one keeps dogs at home?"

Zhao Fusu asked again.

"Yes, Your Majesty the Paramount Leader!"

Xia Laixi nodded.

"Then that's it!"

Zhao Fusu knew what illness Lu Jia, Tian Ju, Jin Tu, Qing Ying, and Lie Yun had contracted.