Over the two years spent with the Tagu tribe, An Qianshan taught these tribesmen rules and regulations, training methods, how to boil sugar, brew wine, manufacture medicine, cultivate herbs, purge toxins, eliminate parasites, and employ healthy cooking techniques. He trained their chefs in medicinal cuisine to nourish the internal organs.
Chenli was never short on resources; it only lacked the methods to utilize them efficiently.
Initially, the tribal physicians and shamans were dissatisfied with An Qianshan’s commands, as the Tagu tribe possessed their own traditional herbal methods which were quite effective. However, An Qianshan seemed divinely inspired in this regard. He claimed to have read the *Martial Classics* thoroughly and easily grasped the principles of their folk remedies by comparing them to the many similar formulas he knew. He removed the clearly useless components—such as the secretions of certain insects, which tasted sweet but lacked any medicinal efficacy—and added other herbs to create new, more effective recipes.
Chapter 328