A Man of Science and Engineering in Troubled Times Wandering in the Late Qing Dynasty

Chapter 36 The Era of Decay

Xiaodao Liu can be regarded as a "craftsman", with a big family and a big business, and there are two yards just for purifying himself.Of course, he didn't live in it himself, otherwise no one would be able to bear the howling ghosts and wolves every day.

Their line of work is all ancestral craftsmanship, which is only passed down in the family.

After entering the door, Xiaodao Liu's son was washing his hands in front of the sink with blood on his hands.When he saw the two of them, he got up and wiped his hands and said, "Father, the ones in the house are not ready, the second crops are not cut well."

The so-called "second stubble" means that the first cut is not thorough, and granulation grows again. If it fails the inspection by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, it will have to be cut again.But it seems that this one is very unfortunate, the wound is seriously infected, and he is dying.

Xiaodao Liu said: "Tell him to his family, and someone will take it back. If you can't keep it, 15 taels of silver will be posted in the restaurant."

"Understood." He saw Li Yu behind Xiaodao Liu, and said casually, "This person is not of the right age."

Xiao Dao Liu kicked him, "Go away! This is Mr. Li, here to give us some advice."

Xiaodao Liu's son quickly bowed down and apologized: "There are not many outsiders in the museum, I'm really sorry! Please come inside."

Li Yu and Xiaodao Liu walked into the room. There were many small boxes and bottles on the side cabinet, but they didn't dare to look carefully.

"Master Li, to be honest, this kind of thing has happened quite a few times recently, and if you don't talk about paying the money, you're worried that the big guys will be scared and go to Bi Wuna."

Li Yu frowned, the hygienic conditions in the room were extremely poor even for an outpatient operating room.

The knives on the table were also quite simple, with a whetstone and a larger stove next to it.

Seeing that Li Yu hadn't spoken, Xiaodao Liu continued, "Master Li, see how you can improve. In a few days, there will be a child who will be sent to be put on the shelf. Eunuch De personally selected him. I don't dare to make mistakes."

Li Yu just wanted to leave here as soon as possible, so he said: "There are too many things to change. First of all, all the sheets are washed immediately after use, how can there be blood! The environment should also be disinfected with alcohol, no, you must at least use sodium hypochlorite here. Or phenol. There are also surgical knives, which are too outdated and need to be replaced, how can one person perform the same operation twice!"

Xiao Dao Liu listened attentively, and then said, "What do you mean by Lvna? I've heard that foreigners have better knives. Bi Wu didn't know where to get a set. It's extremely sharp."

"It's very common in foreigners' hospitals, you can ask them for it."

Xiaodao Liu said: "I have been to a foreigner's clinic, and when they heard that I was doing this, they kicked me out immediately."

Li Yu recalled that the two Western medicine hospitals in the capital were established by churches. One was built by the American Presbyterian Church on Andingmen Nei Street. .

The other is in Dongjiaomin Lane, built by the American Protestant Methodist Church, called Tongren Hospital, which is still alive today.

The two hospitals can be regarded as the earliest western medicine hospitals in the capital, and the Xiehe Hospital will be more than ten years away.

No matter how you say it, the hospital is to save people, and they will definitely not do it by force.

Li Yu sighed, he couldn't do anything about it, he didn't have the ability to stop the eunuch system immediately, so he said, "Okay, I'll go and ask for you."

Xiaodao Liu said happily: "Thank you, Master Li, I heard that you are very familiar with foreigners, and I will definitely give you generous gifts in the future."

"No need, I have something to do, let's go first!"

Here Li Yu didn't want to stay any longer, so he slipped out after saying hello.

Instead of going straight home, he asked passers-by if he had seen a poor old man with a skinny boy.

According to passers-by, Li Yu came all the way to the vicinity of Andingmen, and saw the old man and his father in front of a pharmacy.

The boy was squatting by the side of the road holding a half jar of candy and a shriveled steamed bun in his hand.Maybe it's because I haven't eaten such a sweet thing, so I can't stop stuffing sugar into my mouth.

On the other hand, the old man begged the owner of the pharmacy: "Master Lin, at least he is from the same village, and you are a villager, so please take care of him!"

The owner of the pharmacy was not very happy: "Old Wang, it's not that I won't help you. My pharmacy has just recovered this year, so I don't have any spare money."

The old man continued crying: "It's all right if you don't accept your child as an apprentice. I've been forced to do this. You should help me no matter what! When you fell into the water 13 years ago, I was the one who saved you. "

The owner of the pharmacy was dissatisfied: "Don't press me with this matter! I gave you a lot of food a while ago, without me, you would have starved to death! I have given enough, don't come to me in the future!"

The pharmacy owner returned to the house resolutely. The old man wanted to plead for mercy, but was pushed to the ground by a strong man.

The boy didn't care about the candy, and immediately rushed over to help the old man.

Li Yu also rushed over to help him up. Seeing Li Yu, the old man remembered that he had seen him in front of Xiaodao Liu Pavilion just now, and held his hand: "Tell Mr. Liu that I will definitely find a guarantor."

"I'm not from Mr. Liu, old man, no matter how difficult you are, you shouldn't let your child suffer."

The old man sighed: "I don't want to either. I'm just such a child. Who wants to cut off children and grandchildren! But there is really no way. It's better to live than to die."

Li Yu touched his body and found that there were a dozen or so taels of silver, all of which were stuffed into the old man's arms: "You take this money, at least you can make it through this year."

The old man was taken aback: "You are?"

"Keep it for use, don't starve the child, and don't think about getting clean again."

"You are really a living Bodhisattva!" The old man pulled the child and knelt in front of Li Yu, "Kowtow to the living Bodhisattva."

Li Yu helped the two of them up, "You don't have to. My name is Li Yu. If you have any difficulties in the future, just go to Dongchang Hutong and find me."

Wiping his tears, the old man was so excited that he was overwhelmed with ups and downs in a day: "East... Dongchang Hutong?"

After more than 200 years, I didn't expect that Yu Wei was still in Dongchang Hutong. Li Yu immediately said: "I am not a knife maker, and Dongchang is a matter of the previous dynasty."

The old man said: "I know! All the people living in Dongchang Hutong are very rich and powerful, and you, my lord, are also very rich and powerful!"

After chatting for a few words, Li Yu asked them to go home. The old man lived outside the Anding Gate. It was a desolate place in the late Qing Dynasty, and the people who lived there were poor people.

There is a saying about the city gates of old Beijing that nine gates pass through nine carts, and Andingmen pass through the army, but in general, more dung carts pass through.

There is an old saying, "Andingmen, three hurdles, dung factories, kiln pits, and mass graves", one can imagine how desolate this place was back then.

It can also be seen from the place names that were preserved later, such as Swill Bridge, which is on Andingmenwai Street.

Even the current Qingnian Lake Park was a kiln pit back then.So for a long period of time, there were many excrement yards outside Andingmen, and many people who transported pickled things would concentrate here, but after all, it would be more refreshing to listen to the soldiers.

After thanking him a thousand times, the old man took the boy out of the Anding Gate.

At this time, a dung truck in the palace happened to pass by Li Yu, and walked slowly towards the door.Li Yu stood motionless, the stench that was gradually receding was very similar to this decadent era.

(End of this chapter)