Reborn as the Crippled King's Beloved
Chapter 449 Setting Up a Medical College

Chapter 449: Chapter 449 Setting Up a Medical College

"My master, I was an orphan from a young age, a little beggar who was beaten and scolded while struggling to survive. It was your grandmaster who picked me up and took me in, gave me food, taught me to read and practice medicine. But the old man, my master, was also very busy, so I ended up following my senior brother around like a little shadow."

The old master reminisced about the past.

"Your senior uncle was quite loyal when he was younger. He was a determined kid and, while he wasn’t exceptionally kind to me, his younger apprentice brother, he wasn’t mean either. You see, I grew up in a nest of beggars, unloved and uncared for, and suddenly I had a senior brother who was like an older sibling to me. How could I not like him?"

"A child’s feelings are pure. I was good to my senior brother, and he was good to me. He even taught me to read and write. But later on, as I learned medicine quickly and our master said I was more talented than my senior brother, I became proud and complacent. That was when my senior brother began to drift apart from me."

"Looking back on it now, how can I blame my senior brother? The apprentice he had taught was praised by our master every day, and yet he often got scolded. If I were in his shoes, I would have been dissatisfied and felt resentment, too. So we drifted further and further apart, and eventually, when my master chose to pass on his mantle to me, my senior brother truly went down an irreversible path."

"He was indeed in the wrong, take Wu Xie’s mother for example, he brought ruin to an entire family. Wasn’t that an outrageous mistake? A man like that deserves to sink to the eighteenth level of hell even after death."

"But I was also at fault. My senior brother taught me the basics, yet due to our conflicts, I distanced myself from him and failed to play a supervisory role. Had I stayed by his side, he definitely would not have made such a grave error."

"I’ve let down my master’s expectations of me. After I die, who’s to say I don’t deserve to descend to hell too."

Murong Jiu felt that something was off as she listened further.

She said solemnly, "Master, you’re being too hard on yourself. As people age, they tend to reflect on the past, but who in this world has never made a mistake? You’ve saved so many people, and your merit is great. If you feel guilty, after Uncle Master Miao gets better, you both can continue to treat and heal people, accumulating even more merit."

"Right, the girl’s right. Once he gets better, we’ll save even more people together, gather merit so that he may suffer less torment after death."

Murong Jiu was torn between laughter and tears.

Whether there is actually a hell after death is still up for debate.

But such thoughts are somewhat comforting, as they at least offer hope for reformation.

After spending a few more days with her master and ensuring that Divine Doctor Miao was completely stable, Murong Jiu finally took her master back to the Prince Mansion.

She brewed some Calming Soup for her master and those who hadn’t been resting well these days, and everyone had a good night’s sleep and woke up feeling refreshed.

Nowadays, outside, it’s being said that Princess Consort Ling’s master, Divine Doctor Zhai, is the reincarnation of Hua Tuo and managed to save Divine Doctor Miao, who should have died from a stab to the heart.

It does sound impressive, but both Divine Doctor Zhai and his apprentice Murong Jiu think they were just lucky. Otherwise, just the blood transfusion aspect—if they had been unlucky there, Divine Doctor Miao wouldn’t have survived until now.

If it were someone else, they might not have had the same good fortune.

The truth is, the Blood Transfusion Method is viable; what’s not viable is their inability to determine whether each person’s blood is compatible with the patient’s, rather than being incompatible.

And they also need to be able to identify whether the donor has any contagious diseases.

It seems nearly impossible to disseminate this method.

There is so much that mankind does not know yet.

In the field of medicine, it seems there is no end.

But such is life; not everything can be perfect.

Murong Jiu also realized that she should devote more time to studying medicine.

"Ah Jiu, how about we establish a medical college?"

Jun Yuyan didn’t want her to overexert herself, so he made this suggestion to her.

"The Medical College is about cultivating medical talent, allowing more people who wish to learn medicine to have a place to study. Perhaps there are many geniuses like you, Ah Jiu, and generation after generation, Great Yan will have physicians everywhere, able to save more lives. It’s possible that existing medical techniques could become even more refined, right?"

Murong Jiu nodded.

She had thought about setting up schools for more people to learn to read and write, but she hadn’t considered establishing a Medical College.

In fact, at the root of it all, the difficulty in setting up such an institution was so great that she didn’t dare to think about it.

However, the founding of the Civil Medical Bureau made her realize even more the precious scarcity of physicians. Many commoners, out of sheer ignorance, allowed their illnesses to worsen or even led to untimely deaths.

Someone had to do this.

If Divine Doctor Miao could recover, she believed he would be willing to join her master in passing down medical knowledge.

The initial stages might be fraught with difficulties, but perhaps in a few years, many issues could be resolved smoothly.

Say the word, and it’s done.

The court was in turmoil, with support shifting to the Young Prince, leaving the Second Prince and the Third Prince unwilling to sit back and accept the situation, yet only Prince Ling maintained a Zen-like detachment.

The Emperor, citing Prince Ling’s hard work in quelling disturbances, asked him to rest, essentially suspending all his official positions. Prince Ling, however, did not mind at all and spent his days leisurely walking around the Capital City with Princess Consort Ling and their two children.

Shortly afterward, once the school had been renovated, the news finally spread that a Medical College was to be established.

This news caused a sensation throughout the Capital City.

There were already a dozen or so tuition-free schools in the city, some even beyond Capital City’s boundaries, but nobody expected them to start a Medical College!

A Civil Medical Bureau had already brought together many Court Physicians and Divine Doctors, so who would teach at this Medical College?

Besides, everyone knows that traditionally, to learn medicine, one must first apprentice themselves to a physician for over five years of unpaid work. Only when the master, on a whim of conscience, decides to teach, does one truly learn medicine.

Ordinary folk can hardly come into contact with medicinal herbs, let alone read. Even if you put a medical book in front of someone who can’t recognize characters, it’s useless.

Moreover, medical books are each physician’s closely guarded secret, passed down only to the legitimate son of the household. If without an heir, they are strictly passed to the most favored apprentice.

Even if the previous schools were successful and more people learned to read, what about the medical books? Surely, Prince Ling and Princess Consort Ling wouldn’t take their family’s medical knowledge and share it with others?

Most people believed the Medical College wouldn’t take off.

It was just a minor endeavor.

They believed it wouldn’t be long before it came to a dismal end.

These were the thoughts of the noble and high-ranking officials in the Capital City. As for ordinary people, of course, they hoped Prince Ling could make a success of it. If their children could learn medicine, their livelihood wouldn’t be a concern in the future. Being a physician is better than anything else.

Even village Barefoot Doctors, during years of famine and disease, wouldn’t starve.

Besides, physicians are highly respected, which is a hundred times better than being a porter or footman, right?

As soon as the news about the founding of the Medical College was released, many commoners started registering their children.

No matter if the Medical College could continue or for how long, at least they could learn something practical!

However, the prerequisite for entering the Medical College was literacy, which eliminated many people right away.