Da Ming: Father, step aside, I'll be the prime minister!

Chapter 55 Physician Yang, who doesn't understand medicine

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Emperor Wanli glanced at the other party with a somewhat speechless expression.

What a rebellious son!
He sighed and said, "The entire court needs the Grand Secretary's help. I won't behead him, so naturally I won't behead you either. Tell me your ideas."

After making a joke, Zhang Yunxiu wasn't in a hurry and instead asked a question.

"What medicine has Your Majesty been taking lately?"

Emperor Wanli glanced at his childhood friend and then loudly gave orders to those outside the hall.

"Zhang Banban, bring up my medicine for today."

It turns out that the emperor hadn't drunk his medicine yet; he had been putting it off.

Now that the matter has been brought up, he simply instructed Zhang Cheng to prepare today's medicine.

Upon hearing the imperial decree, Zhang Cheng, who had been waiting outside, immediately accepted the order and hurried away.

Not long after, a young eunuch carefully brought over a bowl of medicine.

The herbal soup was jet black, and it emitted a foul, fishy smell.

Zhang Yunxiu glanced at the medicine from afar. If he hadn't been knowledgeable about history, he would have almost thought that Zhang Cheng, with his thin eyebrows and squinty eyes, wanted to murder the emperor.

Can this cure periodontitis?

Accompanying them was an elderly man with white hair, who, judging from his attire, was clearly an imperial physician from the Imperial Medical Academy.

Emperor Wanli glanced at the medicine with disdain, and then at the old man with disdain as he spoke.

"Imperial Physician Yang, what brings you here?"

Yang Jishi bowed respectfully and forced a smile as he spoke.

"Your Majesty has finally agreed to take the medicine. I am overjoyed. It is not advisable to conceal one's illness and refuse treatment. This ailment of toothache and malnutrition cannot be delayed any longer. The Imperial Medical Academy has spent several days researching and has made some improvements. While it may not be a cure, it will greatly alleviate Your Majesty's pain. The Empress Dowager specifically instructed me to ensure that Your Majesty takes the medicine properly."

He emphasized that this was the Empress Dowager's order.

Yang Jishi narrowed his eyes, then held up a small box above his head and said.

"This is the method of applying mud to the gums. The Imperial Medical Academy has been visiting famous doctors in various places these days and specially presented it to His Majesty. It should be able to cure the disease of tooth decay."

Upon hearing the term "toothy malnutrition," the Wanli Emperor felt a pain in his cheek. He looked pained, but when he saw that the "earth dragon mud" was about to be put into his mouth, he instinctively wanted to refuse.

Upon hearing that it was the Empress Dowager's intention, he immediately lost his temper and waved his hand, saying...

"Send it over."

"According to the order."

Yang Jishi, together with Zhang Cheng, presented the clay dragon and the medicine to the emperor.

As Yang Jishi walked up, he passed by Zhang Yunxiu and suddenly felt that the man's eyes seemed somewhat unfriendly.
But he didn't take it to heart.

When they arrived before the emperor, Yang Jishi specifically advised, "Your Majesty, please remember to take the medicine first, and then apply earthen mud to your gums."

"understood."

Emperor Wanli covered his nose, then brought the medicine to him, and with a couple of candied fruits from a small dish, tilted his head back and gulped it down.

"Gulp gulp~ Uh~"

The expression on his face looked like he had been punched.

Immediately afterwards, Yang Jishi opened the exquisite little box, revealing a brownish paste-like substance inside. He then took out a small copper spoon and respectfully said...

"Please, Your Majesty, open your mouth."

Normally, if Yang Jishi dared to be so presumptuous, the Wanli Emperor would have dragged him out and flogged him. But now, with the Empress Dowager's name in charge, the emperor, like a docile rabbit, forced himself to open his mouth, suppressing his disgust. As soon as he opened his mouth, Yang Jishi frowned. Most of his teeth were blackened, and his gums were terribly swollen and red, even showing signs of pus.

"Please be patient, Your Majesty."

Yang Jishi was clearly quite skilled; his squatting down showed a level of professionalism beyond his time as he scooped out a large, full spoonful with a copper ladle.

Zhang Yunxiu watched in astonishment, secretly marveling at the audacity of the imperial physicians of the Ming Dynasty.

This earthworm mud, to put it bluntly, is just earthworm excrement, isn't it?

They actually dared to put earthworm droppings into the emperor's mouth.
If it were a certain Cao, a woman who loves married women, she would not only expose these people but also expose their true colors.

After careful consideration, Zhang Yunxiu suddenly remembered that in ancient Chinese medicine theory, earthen clay does indeed have the effect of clearing heat and reducing swelling.

Zhang Yunxiu still felt that this matter was too outrageous. In this era, there was a lack of scientific extraction technology. Could the extracted mud dragon mud be clean?
It contains countless random and nonsensical elements.

If there are parasite eggs and heavy metals, it would be enough to cause trouble for the emperor.

So, before Yang Jishi could apply the medicine, Zhang Yunxiu shouted.

"and many more!"

Yang Jishi was startled and quickly put away his spoon, turning around angrily to say, "You brat, how dare you be so reckless! You even dare to shout at His Majesty! If something goes wrong, can you take responsibility?"

Yang Jishi couldn't help but be angry, as he had almost smeared that spoonful of clay on the emperor's face.

If you use the pretext of treating an illness to put excrement into the emperor's mouth, the emperor might be able to tolerate it, but what if you accidentally smear excrement on the emperor's face?

Wouldn't that be an insult to the emperor?
Zhang Yunxiu then looked at the emperor and said, "Your Majesty, may I inquire about Physician Yang's treatment methods?"

Yang Jishi glared and puffed out his beard: "Where did this brat come from? Treating a sage is not something you can treat with such a ridiculous and childish manner!"

Normally, the Imperial Medical Academy would act humble and subservient when meeting high-ranking officials, but when it came to treating illnesses, they would become confident.

Especially today, with the Empress Dowager's decree hanging high above him, Yang Jishi dared to speak forcefully even in front of the Emperor.

For some reason, instead of being angry at Zhang Yunxiu's outburst, Wanli was somewhat relieved.

We'll stall for time! That's shit!
He glanced at Yang Jishi and said, "Imperial Physician Yang, why don't you speak with Zhang Shiyuan?"

Yang Jishi wanted to say something more, but since the emperor had already spoken, he had no choice but to agree, even though he was unwilling.

He looked at the other person with an annoyance and said, "What do you want to ask?"

Zhang Yunxiu asked calmly, "May I ask, Physician Yang, what medicine did you use?"

Upon hearing this, Yang Jishi immediately straightened his back, his face full of pride, and stroked his beard as he spoke eloquently.

"This is a decoction for clearing stomach heat and treating toothache. The formula contains a variety of medicinal herbs such as Rehmannia glutinosa, Angelica sinensis, Paeonia suffruticosa, Coptis chinensis, and Cimicifuga foetida, supplemented with earthworm mud. This earthworm mud has the yin energy of the earth and is most good at guiding fire downward."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yunxiu was speechless for a moment, still adhering to the principle of supplementing what is lacking!

The idea that earthworms can start a fire by burrowing in the soil is simply far-fetched.

Earthworms may have some medicinal value, but it's definitely not the kind of nonsense they're spouting!

"That's wrong!"

Zhang Yunxiu knew that he couldn't reason with the ancients on this matter, so he took a different approach.

"I just observed that Your Majesty's tongue coating is yellow but cracked, which indicates a deficiency of the Lesser Yin Kidney and depletion of the marrow. If you were to take bitter and cold medicines, it would likely damage your true Yang! Your medicine will not only fail to cure Your Majesty, but it will also harm Your Majesty's health!"

Using magic to defeat magic! Zhang Yunxiu could cite far and wide this kind of theory.

Upon hearing this, Yang Jishi's eyes widened in anger.

"How dare a mere child presume to discuss traditional Chinese medicine? I base my treatment on the 'Treatise on the Spleen and Stomach' from the Jin-Yuan period, which states that swollen and painful gums are often due to stomach heat. How can there be anything wrong with treating it this way?"

(End of this chapter)