Song Gexing

Chapter 121 The Medical and Health System of the Song Dynasty
What Zhao Fang planned to create was the virus "smallpox" that killed countless people in ancient times but was ignored by later generations.

Anyone in the 21st century who is not a fool knows that the vaccine for smallpox virus is obtained from cattle, and almost everyone has been vaccinated against it since childhood.

This is not something profound, and you don’t need to specialize in medicine to understand how to make a vaccine. Although there is no way to make a vaccine that can be stored like later generations, it is good if it can be used.

Zhao Fang had no intention of doing this these days and was paying attention to the court's arrangements for the southwest battle.

After Di Qing met Zhao Zhen, the next step was to wait for news about the deployment of troops from Fujian and the gathering of the Forbidden Army from the southwest.

On the other hand, he also had to wait for news from the Ministry of War in Bianjing. Logistics equipment such as weapons, grain and grass needed to be mobilized from various places after confirmation by the Ministry of War.

War is not just a matter of time. Pre-war preparation is the most time-consuming. Any army that is ill-prepared is basically not far from failure.

A few days later, Yao Lin came over excitedly and told him that a lot of marching powder had been produced, and raw materials were being purchased continuously.

Looking at this guy's eager look, Zhao Fang didn't know that he was waiting impatiently, for fear that he would not get the chance to go south after Di Qing's affairs were finished and he set off.

He laughed happily and said: "I know, take a bag of marching powder and follow me into the palace."

Yao Lin, who was overjoyed, had already prepared and followed him into the palace. He kept talking about his thoughts on the battle along the way, as if he was afraid that Zhao Fang would not let him go if he did not give his best.

Zhao Zhen was very surprised when he received the news that his son had entered the palace. Didn't he calm down these days? He didn't hear that there was anything else he should pay attention to.

But the prince had to be seen before entering the palace, so I had to ask him to come in and listen to what he had to say.

As soon as he entered the door, Zhao Fang saluted with a smile, and then greeted the ministers present and said: "Dad, my son asked Xiao Yao to supervise the production of a medicine to be used to relieve the heat and plague in the Southwest War. This time Let him follow him south."

Zhao Zhen had heard that he went to the Royal Pharmacy Institute to test medicine, but he didn't pay much attention. Now that he heard this, he realized that this medicine was originally prepared.

I couldn't help but curiously asked: "Is this medicine easy to use? Where did you get the prescription? Dad heard that you asked the Royal Pharmacy Institute to test the medicine, and then found a pharmacy to prepare it. Is this the medicine?"

Zhao Fang nodded in agreement and introduced the origin of the prescription. Of course, he said that he accidentally read it in an ancient book. As for the book, he had forgotten it.

Zhao Zhen and his ministers were all used to his cheating. As long as the imperial medicine hospital passed the verification, the emperors and ministers of the Song Dynasty still believed in the medical officers of the imperial medicine hospital.

The Song Dynasty attached great importance to the construction of medicine, which has been leading in all dynasties, and the medical system is also very complete, not much worse than later generations.

The Song Dynasty was the first dynasty to establish the separation of administration and education in the medical system. Before Zhao Fang's suggestion, government-run medical care had been popularized in various states.

In the Northern Song Dynasty alone, the court issued more than 200 edicts specifically on medicine, which was unprecedented in other dynasties.

Moreover, the "Song Xingtong" has formulated punishment laws and regulations regarding medical ethics, medical accidents, public medicine, food hygiene, health care, prisoner medical and health management and other medical management.

The law treats doctors' liability accidents and technical accidents differently, so that doctors will not be killed accidentally.

Specific provisions were also made on the medical security issues for lower-class people such as craftsmen, slaves, and soldiers.

In terms of food hygiene, those who violate food prohibitions will be punished by hanging and cane respectively. This is actually the Food Hygiene Law of the Song Dynasty.

There are also regulations regarding the medical treatment of sick prisoners. Those who are sick should be provided with food, clothing, and medicine, and they are not allowed to be tortured until they recover.In order to protect the life of the baby and prevent miscarriage, pregnant women were tortured after giving birth. Violators were punished according to the circumstances.

In terms of administration, the imperial court established the Imperial Medical College to take charge of national medical and hospital policies, and the Imperial Medical Bureau to manage the training and education of medical talents.

Medical officers in the Song Dynasty had to undergo examinations, just like the imperial examinations. They had to pass examinations at the state, county and provincial levels. The contents of the examination were "Bachelor's Classics" and "Fangmai Medication".

Each county has a medical doctor who is responsible for teaching local doctors. The imperial court stipulated that for every [-] households, there must be one to three medical doctors.

As for drug management, the imperial court established pharmaceutical administration agencies and government-run pharmaceutical factories. The Shang Pharmacy Bureau was responsible for the dietary supplements and medical treatment of the imperial court, and the Royal Pharmacy Institute was responsible for the allocation and processing of drugs.

The outer dynasty belongs to Shiyi Pharmacy, which manages medicines all over the world. This is a government-run pharmaceutical factory. The pharmacies in the Song Dynasty must come from here.

In other words, the Song Dynasty has designated medicine as a national monopoly. Of course, these are not folk herbal medicines, but processed medicinal materials.

Many Chinese herbal medicines are poisonous and must be processed before they can be used. There are also some non-toxic herbs that need to be processed, such as those stir-fried with salt and roasted with honey.

Medicinal materials such as the most common licorice, as well as arsenic and other medicinal materials with controlled limits, are not allowed to be prepared and used privately by the private sector. If it causes problems for patients, the government will be held accountable.

Therefore, there is a reason why people who are familiar with history books like the Song Dynasty the most. It is not just about the prosperity of the Song Dynasty culture, but the care for the people's livelihood and the people in the Song Dynasty far exceeds that of other dynasties.

As for some people saying that the people of the Song Dynasty rebelled one after another, it must be caused by the imperial court's oppression, but this is actually unreasonable.

This was an ancient agricultural society. With insufficient technology, food problems were the biggest problem in ancient times. Before sweet potatoes, potatoes and corn entered China, famine was a common thing.

The powerful Han Dynasty and the prosperous Tang Dynasty still rebelled constantly. Didn't the later Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty also rebel?

This is not caused by the bureaucracy, but by low social productivity. As mentioned earlier, in ancient times, as long as the harvest was poor in one year, famine would occur.

It is unimaginable to future generations that in the era we live in, there has been a drought for three or four years, but the people are still well fed and clothed.

But in ancient times, let alone three or four years, people could change their sons and eat them in two years. Therefore, it should be said that it is unwise to use local people's rebellion to slander ancient dynasties. Such people have not thought about it at all. They are just self-righteous people who follow what they say. That’s all.

Zhao Zhen was the first emperor to be called a benevolent emperor, not because people in the Song Dynasty advocated him, but because the later Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties recognized him.

Three dynasties and 650 years, dozens of emperors, and thousands of scholars are all fools, stupider than us modern people.

None of them could see that Song Renzong was hypocritical. Only we people in the 21st century could see it, and to put it bluntly, those who could see it were a few talented people.

"What official position does His Highness the Crown Prince want Yao Junrui to hold?"

After the medical officer confirmed, everyone agreed to Zhao Fang's request, and Privy Councilor Pang Ji asked.

Zhao Fang smiled and said: "What Prime Minister Pang said, since joining the army, of course you must obey the arrangements, and you should be given official positions according to Jun Rui's rank. As for how to arrange the arrangements, you must naturally listen to General Di. He is the chief general, and his military skills are as good as mine. No one can disobey the general's orders."

(End of this chapter)