SKM – Chapter 34

Translator: ShimizuA  Editor: Arocks   Proofreader: –    TLC: –

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Arc 2 – Tenth Year of Eiroku Era, Tenka Fubu

Middle April, 1567

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“‘How do you cure the cough illness’, is it?”

Shizuko repeated Nobunaga’s question while stroking the bump on her head. His fist was painful as usual, but it seems he was holding back as the pain quickly subsided. She was about to complain why can’t he just call her normally, but Kimyoumaru and his tutor’s judging gaze made her avert her eyes.

“Rather than curing it, it’s easier to create an effective environment for the illness to heal by itself, isn’t it? In the first place, there are hundreds of reasons that can cause cough illness, it’s impossible to make a specific medicine.”

Cough illness, or now referred to as common cold, has no specific medicine. Therefore, one has no choice but to rely on the human immune system. Shizuko only created an environment in which the immune system could work efficiently.

“That’s it? You’re not using some Nanban’s secret technique or something?”

The brief explanation Nobunaga received only added more questions.

“As I have said earlier, there’s no specific cure for cough illness that has to be found as far as my knowledge. There’s no other way but to rely on human’s natural healing ability.”

(Well, it’s easy to say it’s because of the immune system, but people in the Sengoku era didn’t even have the fundamental knowledge for it. Ugh… medical science is not my field, it’s hard to even give a simple explanation.)

“I see…Because there can be any of hundreds of reasons, making a wonder drug is impossible…”

“Various functions in the body can heal cough illness by itself. No matter what medicine you take, it won’t heal the illness immediately. And depending on the situation, taking too much may also end up badly.”

In the modern era, the common belief was you can only leave it to the body to heal from a common cold. Of course, sometimes symptomatic drugs such as antipyretic, anti-inflammatory, and pain killers need to be taken to save the patient’s life from the sudden fever. Some said that antibiotics were akin to a wonder drug, but that was another can of worms so she omitted it. In short, anything more than that she just chalked it up to something that just ‘happens’.

“Give me a clear explanation.”

Still not convinced, Nobunaga urged Shizuko to continue with her explanation.

“The cough disease causes symptoms such as fever, runny nose, cough, sneezing, loss of appetite, and vomiting. Umm, as far as I know, the illness was caused by very small organisms… called germs, which cause diseases when they enter our body.”

“…”

(Body temperature rises to help immunity. In other words, white blood cells work more efficiently… scratch it, he won’t understand anything I said. Let’s just say that those germs are weak to heat.)“In general, these germs are weak to heat. For this reason, our bodies raise their temperature to kill those invaders… that’s why we get a fever. However, when your temperature rises, your body condition will worsen, and it becomes a battle of attrition between you and the germs. Sneezing is the body’s attempt to regulate body temperature. And a runny nose, cough, and vomiting are attempts to get rid of the bad things from inside your body.”

“…”

“And then… loss of appetite is kind of hard to explain. First, let’s talk a bit about the human body… What happens when we get energy from what we eat is that first, we chew the food with our teeth, then swallow it to our stomach. Then, it was dissolved into a mushy paste that can be absorbed by our body. This flow is what we call digestion.”

“…”

(H-His silence is painful…! I wonder if I am explaining it properly.)”Um, the truth is, this is an act that surprisingly needs stamina. When you eat something hard or when you eat a lot of food, a lot of effort is needed to digest it. In the long term, the stamina used will be less than the food absorbed, so it will be a net positive. However, in an emergency such as an illness, our body is like a battlefield… to put it simply, it’s like an announcement from our body that it’s doing its best to eliminate the enemy called germs, and don’t have time to cultivate the fields leisurely. If you misread their signal, it will only make your cough illness worse.”

Perhaps because something was in his mind, Kimyoumaru turned his face away. Shizuko thought it was probably how he needed to be forced to eat some time ago.

“I see. There are some things I don’t understand, but basically, our bodies can resist the disease from the beginning, right?

“You are correct. Our bodies have the power to eliminate threats and maintain their health; we call this ‘natural healing power’. And it is the greatest weapon we have against the cough illness.”

“And weapons have to be maintained at all times. Failure at maintaining them can result in them becoming useless in an emergency.”

“Yes, it is as you say. About the ways to maintain them, the Mings have this idea of ‘a balanced diet leads to a healthy body.’ it said that the source of medicines is the same as our daily food. Thinking about what you eat every day to prevent or treat illness is called a dietary regimen. A way to practice this idea is by medicinal cooking. Well… to put it plainly, eat a meal that matches our body’s requirements every day.”

“I will hear about that later. Then, the last question. What’s the best thing to do if you have a cough illness?”

“It is important not to exhaust your stamina, to take a lot of water, to eat soft food like porridge in a small amount, and to quickly place hot water tubs in the four corners of the room to warm the room (increase the humidity), dress warmly and rest well. And the cough illness is not something to be afraid of. After suffering from a cough illness, your body will feel as clear as a snake after they molt.”

“Hou, quite a fascinating thought. I’m pleased.”

Which part, what Shizuko was about to say before swallowing it back. She wanted to be spared from another barrage of questions from saying something imprudent.

(Even so, it really shows his thirst for knowledge…)

Nobunaga immediately asked when there was something he was interested in at Shizuko’s explanation. When he still had doubts, he asked more questions; when he disagreed, he voiced his opinion and discussed it. Thanks to that, even just an explanation took a lot of her time.

“That red book thing? seems would be useful. Reproduce its contents, and deliver it to me. The papers will be delivered as usual.”

“Uhe!?”

She looked at the red book. Nobunaga said that she had to completely copy the red book, which has at least 300 pages.

(C-Can I cut the unneeded essay or the legal/law part… at least?)

Alas, Shizuko was so obedient to Nobunaga that she couldn’t think of refusing.

 

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It was about a week after Nobunaga captured Mino.

“Awah peast?”

“Shizuko-sama, please don’t talk while your mouth is full. Also, it’s an award.”

Shizuko made an apologetic face as she was being pointed out and swallowed her food.

“Sorry. So, the Lord has said that he wants to hold an award ceremony. And what does that have anything to do with me?”

Nobunaga planned to give a special reward to those who have made a special contribution to the capture of Mino. That being said, it was only a right for entering the hot spring, delicious food and alcohol at the party, and a few days off. Shizuko, who felt that it was a modest reward and not that special, asked Aya for more details. Turns out, it was a bonus on top of being given gifts such as gold, silver, and imperial gifts. But, it was right after the capture of Mino, and the time to hand the rewards had not been decided yet.

“Ah, sort of like telling us to be careful of our pretentious new neighbors for the next few days?”

If they are going to use the hot spring, there is no doubt that they will also use Nobunaga’s villa next door. Nobunaga and the chief military commanders will all be present, so naturally many people will follow them for escort and attend to their daily necessities. It is certain that the village will be enveloped by a vibrant atmosphere. Therefore, Shizuko wondered if they planned to send an advance notice to not to give the villagers extra anxiety. But her expectations were easily betrayed.

“No, that’s not it… the Lord has ordered you to also participate.”

 

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In late April, all villages began raising seedlings under Shizuko’s jurisdiction. However, Shizuko herself didn’t join them. If she continued to take the lead, the transfer of agricultural technology wouldn’t be perfect. So, what she was doing now was making a manual for farmwork. While everyone learns from her firsthand, for now, it won’t always be the case for the peasants in each village. In some cases, it may be transmitted like a telephone game, so in order to avoid that, it is essential to create a manual for farmwork. However, there were cons to creating such a manual; their tech could easily be disseminated to other countries. Therefore, Shizuko decided to leave the timing of when to use the finished manual to Nobunaga. When she had written about a third of that manual, a letter was delivered to her.

“This… what should I do…”

After reading the letter, Shizuko held her head and fell to the desk.

“I’ll leave the decision to you, but I think you need to be careful about your reply.”

Aya who stood beside her seemed unconcerned, but she subtly mixed her words with scolding. It was no mystery why she gave such a reply to Shizuko’s musing.

“But…I never thought he would really send a letter.”

The sender of that letter was Honda Heihachiro Tadakatsu. Moreover, he signed it as the chief of a direct retainer of the daimyo of Mikawa province. The contents can be summarized as follows.

‘Dear ma’am, how are you? I apologize for the inconvenience I caused the other day. Also, I cannot thank you enough for sharing plenty of Iburizuke(smoked daikon pickles). Therefore, I would like you to enjoy the taste of Mikawa as an apology and thanks. I’m sure you would like it. I’ll be waiting for good words from you.

PS: What were those yellow things in those rice balls/onigiris?’

Simply put, it was a meal invitation. In modern terms, this was a love letter, and the contents were a date invitation. From how he wrote the text, she can see that he was inviting her from pure kindness without any ulterior motive. That’s why it was hard for her to refuse him. To begin with, she could destroy his honor if she refused. And was highly undesirable. But it will also be a problem to accept the invitation easily. First of all, the roads are not well maintained, so traveling carries a high risk. Furthermore, since it will be in Mikawa, not Owari, it will be unclear how their public order is.

“…Ah, what to do…”

Hell awaits if she accepts, but it also opens its door if she rejects. She was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

“Aya-chan, what did the lord think about this letter?”

And so she threw it to Nobunaga to decide. Then she can give a reply that won’t hurt Tadakatsu’s honor. But as she thought so, her expectation quickly crumbles.

“I don’t think this has reached milord’s ears yet.”

“Is that so…then I’d ask for his judgment. Though, he will probably tell me to refuse…”

“You’re right. If it’s Shizuko-sama, you probably won’t come back once you leave for Mikawa.”

“…Hey, Aya-chan. You are serving me, right? Aren’t you stricter lately?

Pardon my rudeness, but it’s also a servant’s job to point out her master’s carelessness.”

Although it was meant to be a form of criticism for Aya, it fell on deaf ears. However, she decided to think positively, as it was preferable to Aya’s earlier attitude,

“Oh well. That’s right, how’s the construction of the temple?”

“The construction of the complex, including the temple, was almost completed earlier than planned. Somehow Okabe-sama was really enthusiastic about it. However, because he will participate in the construction of Mino castle, the construction will be temporarily halted.”

“Well, that can’t be helped. What about the annex I asked for?”

“It’s about 60 percent completed. However, some of your instructions were unclear, so please verify those as soon as possible.”

“Copy that. Well then, agriculture review… First, has the wood ash been distributed to each village?”

“It has been scattered on all fields in each village. The compost has also been scattered. Tilling and leveling of the fields have also been done, and so the soil preparation has been completed.”

“Oh, you guys managed to do it that far by yourself. I don’t have any tester so I can’t measure the soil’s acidity, so I don’t really have a choice but to rely on intuition… What about the seedlings?”

“It left an excellent impression on Yoichi-sama. We can do it efficiently since I guess we’re already used to it. However, the peasants from the villages that were made this year were still awkward with their hands.”

“Of course they are, they aren’t used to it. Well, I think they will be better next year, so it’s nothing to worry about.”

“There was also no visible problem with egg picking. Agricultural matters are proceeding smoothly.”

As Aya has reported, Shizuko’s transfer of technology started smoothly without any noticeable problem because she has removed parts that seemed to be a problem in advance. She can’t let down her guard yet, but she thought it was okay to leave it to Yoichi and the others for the time being.

“What about the experimental hishio¹ made in Misomachi?”

“There were a few hiccups, but there was no big problem because the manufacturing methods are similar.”

“Hishio…the name will probably become shoyu later, but it’s an important seasoning. Next, how about Asamachi?”

“Because of the sch…shuliten decorticator machine you made, the production output is several times higher than ever before.”

“It’s ‘Schlichten’. That reminds me, our village that is in charge of silk thread production has the water-powered automatic reeling machine running. How are they going?”

Slightly embarrassed after fumbling with her words, Aya clears her throat to change the atmosphere before continuing.

“The production output is even higher there. However, it seems that unevenness could appear on the thread when the machine is operated for a long period. We have to take a break for half koku every two koku. However, the lord was pleased because it was possible to mass-produce high-quality silk thread.”

After pulling out the end of the threads from the cocoon, some of the silk threads are twisted together to achieve the desired thickness. Then, after converging it to a single thread, it will wound up into a frame called a reel. This process was on top of being very time-consuming and also labor-intensive. Therefore, Shizuko had Kinzo build an automatic reeling machine powered by a water wheel. While the Schlichten was made by using an existing blueprint, the reeling machine was Shizuko’s original design. That being said, it was not something she designed in the sengoku era, but when she was still in the modern era. Moreover, the reason why she designed it was when she saw a manual reeling machine and thought ‘can I automate it?’; a very engineer-like reason. In the end, she completed a decent automation device that produces silk threads in a decent amount of time, which made her proud of herself. That means even now she made use of her experience at that time.

“We have hemp, silk, now I’m starting to want some cotton too.”

“Kotton?”

“Yup. Well, if I have the opportunity for it. It should have been introduced to the neighboring Mikawa province, but they haven’t seen any value in it yet, so I think it’ll be easy to get it by barter.”

‘Haven’t seen any value in it… yet? She spoke of it like it will be a fact in the future…’ “How about getting it through a merchant? “

Shizuko shook her head at Aya’s suggestion.

“I don’t need the article itself. I need an environment where I can produce cotton. That is, I need to get seeds.”

“Is that so? Also, there is no big problem with Hamitusmachi and Kinokomachi. They are going well.”

“I see, I see, so they’re doing well. But well, if you have any problems, please report them one by one.”

“As you wish.”

“…Well then, I… need to think about what to do with this letter.”

Shizuko waved the letter in her hand, and while her tone was cheerful, her expression was not.

1. ShimizuA: Soy sauce paste, a kind of by-product from miso fermentation