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On the day after the Mid-Autumn Festival, the Ryukyu King Shang Zhi formally submitted a petition to surrender the territory. The Emperor of Daqin declined three times, but Shang Zhi spoke sincerely, and finally the Emperor of Daqin had to approve his request.
At this time, Ryukyu was a wild island with few people and barren land. Although Shang Zhi was the king, his life in Ryukyu was far from luxurious and comfortable as in Nanjing.
Compared with the mansion Qin Mu gave him in Nanjing City, his palace on Ryukyu Island was like a slum.
Moreover, Qin Mu also selected several beauties from the palace concubines of Jiaozhi and Dongwu and gave them to him, who were hundreds of times more beautiful than his original concubines.
The women on the Ryukyu Islands have dark and rough skin and are short in stature. In addition, the population base is too small, so it is really difficult to select a few beauties. Since arriving in Nanjing, he has been completely intoxicated by this dreamlike prosperity.
The emperor treated him so well that he really didn't want to go back. He submitted a petition to submit to the emperor purely out of his own will, and Qin Mu definitely did not force him.
After taking over Ryukyu, Qin Mu immediately convened a small court meeting to discuss building a military port in Ryukyu and sending troops to station there.
In the Huagai Palace, Lu Zhenfei said, "Your Majesty, although we have accepted the surrender of Ryukyu, there is no need to make a big fuss about it. The navy can just send a few warships to stay in Ryukyu. As for daily management, it can be handed over to the original Ryukyu officials. The court only needs to send a few old Confucian scholars to teach Chinese and Chinese characters so that their customs can be unified."
Minister of Rites Tan Qiubai said, "Your Majesty, I agree with what Lu Ge Lao said. At present, the focus of Ryukyu should be education. Your Majesty may wish to exempt them from taxes for a few years to win the hearts of the Ryukyu people. As for officials, the original Ryukyu officials can still be used, which will also help maintain stability. When necessary in the future, we can send other officials to govern."
"Well, what you two nobles said is exactly what I want. So let's exempt the Ryukyu Islands from taxes for five years. In addition, we should build a few more official schools so that all the boys of school age can attend. Ryukyu has only a few people, so it won't cost much.
The matter of the naval port will be handed over to the North Sea Fleet. Usually, one or two hundred people will be stationed there to catch pirates. But the construction of the naval port must be able to accommodate the entire fleet. After it is completed, the North Sea Fleet can often go there for patrol and form a subtle suppression of Japan. I don't want the incident of Japanese pirates in the Ming Dynasty to happen again."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
The officials of the Qin Dynasty really didn't take a savage island like Xiaoliuqiu seriously. Looking at the world, the Qin Dynasty now occupies the entire South Sea. Why is there a small island like Ryukyu
To be honest, Ryukyu is not important to Daqin now, but it will be different after the development of science and technology in the future. Especially for suppressing Japan, its strategic significance is very important. Qin Mu is preparing for a rainy day.
No matter what, the ministers were impressed that the emperor could get back a small country by rewarding the moon. The emperor's skill in controlling people was getting better and better.
At this time, the Imperial Hospital Director Wu Youxing came to the outside of the palace to ask for an audience. Qin Mu invited him into the palace. He was overjoyed and bowed as soon as he came in, saying, "Your Majesty, the vaccination was successful."
Not only Qin Mu, but all the ministers in the palace couldn't help showing joy on their faces when they heard the news.
The Qin Dynasty was in urgent need of increasing its population, but in this era, the most terrible epidemic, "smallpox", was the disease that claimed the most lives and made people shudder with fear;
Especially children. According to statistics from local governments, at least one-fifth of children who die each year die from smallpox.
This is a disease that has plagued people for a long time. After repeated research by doctors of all generations, in the Ming Dynasty, people already knew several ways to prevent smallpox:
First, take the underwear of a child with smallpox and let a healthy child who has not yet developed smallpox wear it for two or three days to achieve the purpose of vaccination. Generally, fever will occur after nine to eleven days of wearing the underwear, indicating that the vaccination has been completed. The success rate of this method is low. If successful, the fever and smallpox symptoms will be mild and will not cause danger.
The second method is to use fresh pox pus from a child with smallpox, dip cotton in it and insert it into the nostrils of the person being vaccinated, so as to cause pox to break out and achieve the purpose of vaccination. Because this method requires directly pricking the pox in children, most families of patients are unwilling to accept it, so it is rarely used.
Third, grind the smallpox scab into a very fine powder, place it at one end of the curved root canal, and blow it into the nostrils to prevent smallpox. Generally, fever will occur after seven days, indicating that the vaccination has been successful. This method is often used because of its simplicity, but because the scab irritates the nasal mucosa and increases nasal discharge, it is often ineffective to wash away the scab, so it is rarely used.
Fourth, take 20-30 scabs, grind them into fine powder, mix with 3-5 drops of clean water or human milk, spread thin slices with new cotton, wrap the mixed scabs in it, pinch them into a date pit shape, tie them with thread, insert them into the nostrils, and take them out after 12 hours. Usually, the vaccination is successful when fever and acne appear on the seventh day. This method is currently the most commonly used.
Among these four methods, the second method of vaccinating children with smallpox with fresh smallpox pus is actually the most effective. However, once the pox pustules on children with smallpox are punctured, the child's condition will often worsen. Therefore, if anyone has a child with smallpox, no one wants you to prick them to extract fresh smallpox pus.
In view of this, Qin Mu thought of cowpox and asked the Imperial Hospital to conduct experiments.
Seeing the result, Qin Mu was naturally happy and immediately asked Wu Youxing to sit down: "That's fine, tell me about your experience of trying the cowpox vaccination."
Wu Youxing quickly stood up and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, the vaccination process was roughly carried out according to what Your Majesty said. I sent people to Jiaozhi to test it with 100 boys. They cut a small incision on their arms with a knife and inoculated them with cowpox. Within two to three days, all the 100 boys had a slight fever and felt a little uncomfortable, but they recovered within a day or two.
Two months later, we took some pus from smallpox patients and inoculated them into the 100 boys. After another month of observation, none of the 100 boys contracted smallpox. This is enough to show that the method of inoculating cowpox is more effective than the previous methods. "
Qin Mu was not surprised by this result. After all, this was a method that had been proven by history. He laughed and said, "Since the experiment has been successful, let's roll it out across the Qin Empire. What do you think, ministers?"
Sima An couldn't help but roll his eyes secretly. Look at the way he asked the question. He was not asking the ministers about their achievements. He was clearly asking the ministers to sing his praises.
Sima An seized the opportunity to speak first: "Your Majesty, your grace is great. This move will save countless lives and will be a great merit. Although there was a method of vaccination before, it was either ineffective or the government did not pay enough attention to it, so smallpox spread rampantly and took countless lives. Now, thanks to your majesty's great blessing, we have this good method, and we should roll it out as soon as possible."
The Qin treasury is now abundant, and it can even provide free education for school-age children from middle and lower-income families, let alone the cost of vaccinating people in the country who have not been infected with smallpox with cowpox.
This amount of money is just a small amount. Even if it costs a lot, for the Qin Dynasty which is in urgent need of population, this amount of money is worth spending.
Just as Sima An thought, who would object to this matter? The right thing to do was to step forward and sing praises to the emperor.
Qin Mu laughed and said, "Since all the ministers strongly support it, you can ask the Imperial Hospital to come up with a budget. All people under the age of 30 in our Great Qin who have not been infected with smallpox must be vaccinated against cowpox. How much will it cost? You can make an estimate and submit the budget. I will ask the Ministry of Revenue to allocate funds to you today."
"Yes, Your Majesty, I will go back to the Imperial Hospital and ask them to bring the budget. I will take my leave. Long live the emperor. Long live the emperor. Long live the emperor."
Wu Youxing was like this by nature. Even when talking to the emperor, he was not polite and was meticulous in his work, but he was a bit impetuous. In his opinion, this matter could not be delayed for a moment. The earlier the vaccination started, the fewer people would die. This is the heart of a doctor.
Smallpox is now an incurable disease that can only be prevented. Once it breaks out, there is no other way to survive unless you rely on your own immunity, and the mortality rate of patients is very high.
The Imperial Medical Service of the Qin Dynasty was actually no longer the same as the Imperial Medical Service of previous dynasties. It brought together famous doctors from all over the country and was no longer just responsible for treating the royal family. It was also responsible for medical research, pathological testing, running medical colleges, managing official hospitals in various states and counties, and being responsible for domestic health and epidemic prevention matters. The scope of its authority was no less than that of the Ministry of Health in later generations.
And the facts have also proved that many things can be influenced subtly. When Qin Mu first promoted women to go into medicine, he was opposed by many people at the beginning. However, with his strong promotion, after a few years, not only were there many women working as military doctors, but also many women were doing nursing work in the official hospitals in various states and counties.
After getting used to it, no one says anything about it anymore.
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ps: Here comes the extra chapter. Please continue to vote for the monthly ticket. The faster the monthly ticket comes, the faster the extra chapter will come! Sincerely, salute. (To be continued..)
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