I practiced medicine in ancient times

Early the next morning, Bai Yan came to Xu's house with a hatchet hanging around his waist and a backpack on his back, and went up the mountain with Xu Qingyi.

Xu Qingyi, Xu Dafu and his uncle Xu Dafu were also ready. When the white smoke arrived, the four of them headed for the back mountain of Shili Village.

Shili Village is surrounded by mountains on three sides and a river on one side, similar to a basin. A small path leads to Qingshui Town. Shili Village is warm in winter and cool in summer, with pleasant scenery. The villagers live off the mountains. During the idle farming season, many villagers go up the mountain to dig up all kinds of edible food. Some villagers also go up the mountain to hunt and make traps for hunting, which can more or less supplement their family income.

The four of them walked up the mountain along the winding path, their steps light and firm. The sunlight shone through the leaves on them, bringing the fresh breath of morning dew, and the mountain air was filled with the fragrance of grass and trees, which was refreshing.

This time when entering the mountains, Xu Qingyi plans to go deeper into them. In the deep mountains, there are many flowers, plants and trees, and there are more herbs growing. He might even encounter rare herbs.

"This is gentian." Before going deep into the mountains, Bai Yan discovered a bunch of gentian, and she hurried forward to check it out.

Gentiana is cold-resistant, light-loving, with single leaves opposite, sessile, small leaves at the base, ovate to lanceolate leaves in the middle and upper parts, rounded leaf bases and united on the stem nodes. Flowers are solitary at the top of the stem, broadly funnel-shaped, dark blue.

It has the effects of clearing away heat and dampness, and relieving liver and gallbladder fire.

"It's a pity that there are too few. Even after picking, the quantity is not much. Let's go deeper into the mountains and take a look." Xu Qingyi nodded.

"Hey! This is Bupleurum."

“There are also aster here.”

“And kudzu root.”

After climbing the mountain for a while, Xu Qingyi and Bai Yan discovered many commonly used herbs.

However, the quantity of these herbs is not large. If they are picked and processed for home use or emergency, then there is no problem. But if they are to be sold for money, such a small quantity is too little. Not only can they not make much money, but it also takes time and effort.

"Hey, that's Ligustrum lucidum." When Xu Qingyi passed by a low hillside covered with shrubs, he found that there were dozens of privet trees growing on the hillside.

Now all the Ligustrum lucidum berries growing on the wax tree have turned blue-black, and some have even fallen off automatically because they are so ripe.

There are quite a few rotten Ligustrum lucidums under the tree.

"I finally found a herbal medicine suitable for beginners to prepare." Pick the berries when the fruit turns from green to blue-black, indicating that the seeds are ripe. The picking time is generally from October to December. Wash the fruit, remove the branches, leaves, ash and debris, and dry it in the sun; or blanch it in hot water and then dry it in the sun.

This is raw Ligustrum lucidum. It has not been processed with salt or wine. Raw Ligustrum lucidum can only be considered as of inferior price.

Raw Ligustrum lucidum is cool in nature, and can nourish yin and moisten dryness (nourish yin essence and clear away heat evil), clear the liver and improve eyesight (clear away liver fire and make the eyes see things more clearly). It is used to treat constipation caused by yin deficiency and dizziness caused by liver heat.

Once all medicinal herbs are associated with tonic properties, their prices will be much higher than other medicinal herbs. The price of inferior raw Ligustrum lucidum will be ten cents per pound.

Ligustrum lucidum processed with wine or salt is of even better quality, priced at 15 cents per pound, provided that it is processed properly.

"Is this wax tree a medicinal herb? Can it be sold? I saw there are dozens of these wax trees in another place." Xu Dafu asked in surprise when he saw his niece and Bai Yan looking at those wax trees and saying they were medicinal herbs.

It's strange that all these herbs can be used as medicine.

"This wax tree seed is called Nu Ligustrum lucidum. It is a tonic medicine. After it is picked and processed, it sells for a high price.

Remember this place first. After finding a few more herbs, we will go up the mountain to dig in the afternoon. After returning home, I will teach you how to prepare the herbs. "When the brothers Xu Dafu and Xu Dafu heard that the Ligustrum lucidum not only has a nourishing effect, but also has a high price, their eyes lit up and they looked at the dozens of Ligustrum lucidum plants with a gleam of light.

As they walked and stopped, they found a patch of Scutellaria baicalensis in the sand.

A lot of Polygonatum and Atractylodes were found in a lush grass pile.

Of course, other medicinal herbs were also discovered, such as magnolia flower, Aristolochia, Salvia miltiorrhiza, Scrophularia ningpoensis and other medicinal herbs.

Finally, Bai Yan and Xu Qingyi discussed it and decided to temporarily dig up and prepare these four medicinal materials.

After finding the medicinal herbs, Xu Qingyi and the other three did not stay in the mountain for long. After memorizing the locations of a few medicinal herbs, they went down the mountain.

After returning home, Bai Yan's grandmother, mother, and younger brother all came to Xu's house to chat with Zhu, as if they were waiting for Xu Qingyi and others to come down the mountain and bring good news.

"Grandma, Mom, my elder sister and the others have gone down the mountain." The sharp-eyed Xu Qing'an looked at the way down the mountain. After seeing her elder sister and the others coming back, she started running towards home while shouting.

"How is it? Have you found the medicinal herbs?" Zhu and Zhang poured them some water and asked Xu Qingyi and Bai Yan with anticipation.

"We have found four kinds of medicinal herbs, in large quantities and worth selling. We will take you to the mountains to pick and prepare them this afternoon.

Baiyan, which of these four herbs do you want to choose? I'll let you choose first." Xu Qingyi looked at Baiyan and asked.

When the Xu family saw Xu Qingyi let Bai Yan choose first, they didn't say much.

They knew that the Bai family had few members and that they were all orphans and widows. Not to mention taking care of them, they were short of manpower and could not do many tasks, so it would be better for them to save money when the time came.

But the Bai family members all looked grateful.

"Let's choose Atractylodes lancea!" Bai Yan already had an idea.

?Atractylodes can be harvested in spring and autumn, but the quality is better if it is harvested from autumn to spring before the seedlings emerge from the ground.

After digging out the roots, remove the stems, leaves and soil. When they are 40% to 50% dry, put them in a basket, knock off the fibrous roots, and they will turn dark brown. When they are 60% to 70% dry, knock them again. When most of the old skin is knocked off and they are completely dry, knock them for the third time. When the skin turns yellowish brown, it becomes a medicinal material. It is simple and easy to use, very suitable for her grandmother and mother.

The main force in their family is only grandma and mother, who are unable to do laborious and complicated work. Compared with the three medicinal materials, Ligustrum lucidum, Polygonatum odoratum and Scutellaria baicalensis, their family does not have enough preparation, time or manpower to handle them.

The Xu family is large, so they can eat enough.

"Okay, then my family will take over Polygonatum odoratum, Scutellaria baicalensis and Ligustrum lucidum." Xu Qingyi also expected that Bai Yan would choose to dig and process Atractylodes lancea.

Compared with Atractylodes lancea, the three medicinal herbs of Polygonatum odoratum, Scutellaria baicalensis and Ligustrum lucidum are more time-consuming and complicated in terms of preparation, time and labor than picking and preparing Atractylodes lancea.

First, you have to knock the Ligustrum lucidum fruits off with a bamboo pole, then remove the stems, leaves and other impurities, wash them and set them aside.

If it is raw Ligustrum lucidum, just dry it directly.

If it is made from wine or salt, it will be much more complicated.