Chương 136: Training Manual

When Liu Ce arrived, he had just finished seeing his last patient and was packing up his things.

"Lord Marquis!" Zhang Zhongjing saw Liu Ce and quickly bowed.

"You're welcome."

Liu Ce waved his hand and asked, "How's that book coming along?"

At this, Zhang Zhongjing's eyes lit up: "My lord, I was just thinking of coming to see you in a few days! There are some parts of the book that I really don't understand..."

He pulled Liu Ce down to sit and took out a handwritten copy—a copy of the modern medical book Liu Ce had given him, covered with annotations and questions.

"here."

Zhang Zhongjing pointed to a page and asked, "What are 'bacteria'? The book says 'diseases are caused by bacteria,' but bacteria are invisible and intangible, so how can we be sure of their existence?"

Liu Ce scratched his head; this was a difficult question to answer.

These days, without a microscope, if you tell people there are microorganisms, they'll think you're crazy.

He thought for a moment and used an analogy: "You've seen rotten food, right? A piece of meat left out for too long will smell bad and grow mold. You can see the mold, but what makes the meat rot is actually much smaller, so small that you can't see it. Bacteria are those tiny, invisible things that can make people sick."

Zhang Zhongjing pondered: "So, 'disinfection' is simply using high temperatures or chemicals to kill these invisible 'germs' and prevent wound infection?"

"right."

Liu Ce nodded and said, "Especially when performing surgery or treating wounds, instruments, gauze, and hands must be strictly disinfected. Otherwise, it would be a tragedy if the patient died from infection rather than from the disease itself."

Zhang Zhongjing said thoughtfully, "No wonder some of my previous external injuries, even after being treated, still ulcerated and became hot... So that's why."

Liu Ce tried his best to explain in simple and easy-to-understand language.

For some things that are really hard to explain, they would say, "This is what medical books from the Western Regions say, but I don't really understand the specific principles behind it."

Fortunately, Zhang Zhongjing was extremely quick to understand, and he grasped most things immediately.

After an hour, Zhang Zhongjing listened with rapt attention.

Zhang Zhongjing's questions had been answered. He bowed deeply to Liu Ce, saying, "Your Excellency is truly talented! I have benefited immensely!"

"You're too kind, sir."

Liu Ce helped him up, saying, "A doctor's heart is benevolent. It is a blessing for the people that you are able to study these things."

...

"My lord, this book... it's truly a treasure!"

He said excitedly, "Many of the ideas inside are unheard of, but upon closer examination, they make perfect sense. If they can be verified..."

Take your time.

Liu Ce laughed and said, "Medicine can't be improved in a day or two. Try the methods in the book first. If they work, then promote them. If they don't work, then improve them."

Zhang Zhongjing nodded emphatically: "Zhongjing understands!"

Liu Ce was in a good mood when he left the clinic.

A true physician like Zhang Zhongjing, with access to modern medical knowledge, would certainly have been able to play a significant role.

Once he promotes his concepts of surgical disinfection and isolation, how many lives could he save!

Back at the Liu residence, Liu Ce went into his study and began to write and draw.

He wants to adopt the modern military training model.

Push-ups, sit-ups, standing at attention, drill training, cross-country running... these basic exercises, though simple, are very useful for cultivating discipline and enhancing physical fitness.

There are also training equipment: horizontal bar, parallel bar, obstacle course, climbing net...

Liu Ce drew as he recalled the events.

It's not very lifelike, but you can understand the general meaning.

As he wrote, he muttered to himself, "I wonder if Guan Yu and Zhang Fei would think I've gone mad if they saw this."

After finishing writing and drawing, he took a thick stack of paper to the training ground.

On the training ground, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, and others were training new recruits. Seeing Liu Ce arrive, they all rushed over.

"Brother, my lord!"

Liu Ce handed them the paper: "This is a training manual I wrote. Take a look."

Everyone took it, opened it, and was stunned.

The paper was filled with all sorts of strange drawings: a person lying on the ground doing push-ups, a person standing straight like a stick (standing at attention), a group of people marching in formation (marching in step)...

"Push-ups...?"

Guan Yu frowned and asked, "What is this?"

"Standing at attention? There's a posture for standing?" Zhang Fei scratched his head.

Lu Bu looked more closely and pointed to the diagram: "Is this 'pull-up' for training arm strength?"

"right" Liu Ce explained, "These are basic training exercises that can comprehensively improve soldiers' physical strength, endurance, and discipline. From today onwards, your training must follow these guidelines. Of course, you can retain the unique training methods of your respective armies, but the basic training must be standardized."

He walked to the open space and said, "Come on, I'll demonstrate it for you all."

First, do push-ups: "This is called a push-up, and it strengthens your arms and chest/abdominal muscles. The standard movement is like this—keep your body straight, go down until your chest is about a fist's distance from the ground, and come up with your arms straight."

Then do sit-ups: "to strengthen abdominal muscles."

Then stand at attention: "Head up, chest out, stomach in, eyes forward. Stand straight like a pine tree, understand? This is training your composure and discipline."

Next came the drill: "March in step—left leg, right hand; right leg, left hand; keep your steps in unison. Turn left, turn right, turn about—on command, move quickly and in unison."

Liu Ce demonstrated and explained at the same time. His movements were clean and crisp.

The generals were dumbfounded—these movements looked simple, but performing them perfectly was no easy feat. And how could their lord perform them so skillfully?

Guan Yu and the others watched intently, but also looked puzzled.

Zhao Yun asked, "My lord, what is the deeper meaning behind these actions?"

"The deeper meaning is..."

Liu Ce said, "We need to cultivate discipline! An army can't just be good at fighting; it also needs to obey orders and maintain discipline. These training exercises may seem simple, but they can cultivate a style of obeying orders without question."

He pointed to the manual: "It all explains clearly the key points of each movement, the training volume, and the assessment standards. I will personally inspect them in three months. Whoever's soldiers train the worst will have to treat the entire battalion to drinks!"

Upon hearing this, everyone got excited.

Zhang Fei patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, brother! I'll definitely be the best!"

Lu Bu retorted, not to be outdone: "My soldiers are sure to be the strongest!"

Although Yuwen Chengdu didn't speak, his eyes were full of determination to be number one.

Liu Ce nodded in satisfaction and said, "Alright! Then show us your skills! Remember, we're training soldiers, not having you train yourselves—you are the instructors, you must teach the soldiers!"

After giving his instructions, Liu Ce patted his behind and left.

The generals were left huddled around the training manual, discussing it enthusiastically.

Zhang Fei was the most enthusiastic, immediately pulling several soldiers to try push-ups. One soldier did a dozen or so before collapsing to the ground, prompting Zhang Fei to berate him: "Useless! I'll show you!"

As a result, Zhang Fei did more than a hundred of them and was also out of breath.

"Hey... this is really tiring..." he muttered, "but... it worked!"

On the training ground, a new training session began.

From that day on, the training methods of the Youzhou army underwent a dramatic change.