Diqin Designer

Chapter 212: Establishing a Healthy Birth Concept in Daqin

The doctor did not stand up just because he thought Ying Zheng was wise, but also because once the Medical Academy was established, the status of doctors would be greatly improved.

Although the role of doctors is important, the status of doctors in ancient China has never been high.

This can be seen in a sentence from Han Yu's "On Teachers": "Gentlemen despise witches, doctors, musicians, and craftsmen, yet gentlemen are far more intelligent than them. Isn't it strange!"

It goes without saying that "a gentleman despises it", but the phrase "now their wisdom is beyond ours, isn't it strange?" clearly indicates that the wisdom of "witch doctors, musicians, and craftsmen" is inferior to that of the so-called "gentlemen".

In short, the status of "witch doctors, musicians, and craftsmen" is low, so their wisdom should not be like that of a gentleman, otherwise how could it be "strange".

Of course, this was not the Tang Dynasty, but the status of doctors was still not high.

If the Medical Academy could be established, it would be equivalent to having the Qin Emperor's endorsement. Many people would be willing to study medicine, and the status of doctors would naturally be improved.

After shouting a wave of "Your Majesty is wise!", the excited doctor apologized to Li Nian: "I lost my temper, please punish me!"

Li Nian waved his hand and said, "I understand your feelings. Why should I punish you? Please take a seat!"

After all the doctors sat down again, Li Nian continued what he had just said.

"If we want to train more doctors through the Medical Academy, we must first have a group of good doctors as teachers. If there are no teachers, who will teach, and how can the students of the Academy learn medical skills?"

"You have been practicing medicine for many years, and you have great medical skills and rich experience. You are just right to be teachers of the academy. I hope that after the academy is built, you can become the first batch of teachers, teach more doctors, and pass on your medical skills and medical experience to more people."

"There is actually another purpose for establishing the academy, which is to establish the medical system of the Qin Dynasty, that is, to set laws. In the future, doctors must treat patients according to the laws, and patients must also seek medical treatment according to the laws."

Hearing this, many doctors couldn't help but feel worried.

Although Qin laws have been changed now, their former harshness has not gone away and still exists in people's hearts.

If the laws given to them as doctors were the same as the previous Qin laws, then...

Li Nian said: "Don't worry, you can make suggestions when the law is made. After all, you are doctors and understand the difficulties encountered in practicing medicine."

The doctors were relieved at this. Since they were allowed to make suggestions, the law should not be too difficult for them.

Li Nian added: "Fourthly, I asked you to be my guarantor because there are some things that require your approval so that the public can believe them. These things may seem trivial, but they have a significant impact. If you don't pay attention, they can cost lives."

This immediately made all the doctors serious. Li Nian said, "There are many things. I will list them out later. Now I will tell you a few first:"

"First, water should be boiled before drinking. Try not to drink raw water. You all know the reason for this."

"Two, three, and four are related to fertility. The most suitable childbearing age for women is around 20 years old. The same is true for men. Too early or too late is harmful. The healthier the woman is, the lower the risk when giving birth. That's right..."

Li Nian looked at the female doctor among the doctors and said, "The Medical Academy will set up a women's department, and I will advise Your Majesty to invite well-known midwives from all over the country to Xianyang to exchange and teach their midwifery experience, so that in the future, all women in our Great Qin can have safe mothers and children."

The female doctors were very excited to hear this. They wanted to stand up and thank Li Nian for his kindness, but he waved his hand to signal them not to wait.

Li Nian proposed these things out of consideration for the women of the Qin Dynasty. After all, only when women can give birth better can the population of the Qin Dynasty increase. But at the same time, he also considered his future wife and children.

By training experienced midwives, they can better ensure the safety of mother and child when his wife gives birth in the future. "Third, whether to have a son or a daughter does not depend on the woman, but on the man. Therefore, the folk belief that a woman giving birth to a daughter instead of a son is the woman's problem is not right."

This is quite new, but if this news gets out, it will definitely cause a huge uproar among the people, overturn the ideas that many people have long held, and will also reverse the verdicts for many women.

But why does having a son or a daughter have nothing to do with women, but instead has something to do with men?
A doctor asked this question. After listening to it, Li Nian thought about it and decided to explain it using the Taoist concept of yin and yang.

"You all should know the theory of yin and yang in the universe. According to this theory, women are yin and men are yang."

"Of course, this is not actually the case. The human body cannot be simply divided into yin and yang based on gender. If we follow the theory of yin and yang, women should be yin-yin and men should be yin-yang."

Some doctors with quick minds have understood, "Young Master, what you mean is that the union of man and woman is the recombination of the woman's yin and the man's yin and yang, and then decides whether to have a son or a daughter?"

"So it is not the woman who decides whether to have a son or a daughter, but the man."

This is a simple combination problem. There is a 50% chance of having a son or a daughter, but the decision of whether it is a son or a daughter lies with the man.

Li Nian nodded and said, "That's right, but I can't verify this for you right now, so I need you to be my guarantor."

I see. They use their identity as doctors to make people believe these things. People will think that as doctors, they understand these things better, and therefore will believe their words more.

All the doctors said in unison: "Young Master, you have shown kindness to the world. We are willing to be your guarantors!"

If what this person said is true, it will improve the situation of many women in the world.

Li Nian said: "Besides, close relatives cannot marry."

At this time, if the law was used to forbid close relatives from marrying, it would be considered that the law was too harsh and that the Qin Emperor deliberately did not want them to get closer, thus causing resentment.

But if these doctors put forward the idea and provide detailed evidence, people's resentment will disappear and they will actively agree.

Thinking of this, Li Nian suddenly thought of modern experts.

Originally, experts were used to do these jobs, but modern experts have obviously gone astray and are unable to tell the truth. Moreover, people have awakened and are no longer easily led by them.

Li Nian explained the concept of "prohibiting marriage between close relatives" to the doctors.

A doctor sighed and said, "An old friend of mine has a son whose whole body is white. Now that I think about it, his parents are indeed what you call 'close relatives'. The parents are ignorant, so they have such a child. It is sad and lamentable."

Li Nian looked at the doctor who was speaking and wanted to ask: Everyone here is someone else, so is your old friend you?

Another doctor said, "I have also seen it before. The parents were also the 'close relatives' that you mentioned. The children born to them had very short legs, which was considered a bad omen. After they were born, they were..."

"If we had known earlier that inbreeding would have such harmful effects, there would be less disaster in the world."

These words left all the doctors silent. They had been practicing medicine for many years and many of them had encountered similar things. Looking back now, many of them were caused by inbreeding.

In ancient China, it was not that there were no deformed children due to inbreeding. Instead, most of the deformed children were dealt with when they were born. Moreover, this was a family disgrace, so who would spread it to others?

(End of this chapter)