Chapter 677 A Dream of Youth 209

Thinking of Xie Ning's mention of military doctors today, after the group finished their discussion, the emperor finally spoke, "When Lord Xie took my pulse today, he mentioned the matter of military doctors. Should we send more military doctors to each army?"

The emperor was somewhat conflicted, as there weren't many students in the Imperial Medical Bureau, since the number of students was limited.

The eyes of the officials sitting at the lower level lit up. There was a quota for military doctors in the army, but who would complain about having too many doctors?

There were only doctors who didn't want to be military doctors, not the other way around.

“Your Majesty, if more military doctors are deployed to the battlefield, the soldiers’ ability to keep up with the pace will be stronger.” The speaker was Wang Yang, the Deputy Privy Councilor.

The other officials also gave their approval. The emperor nodded and said to Eunuch Ding, "Send someone to summon Imperial Physician Jiang and the Chief Physician."

Jiang Yuanzheng was in charge of the Imperial Hospital and the Pharmacy, while Taiyi Ling was in charge of the Imperial Medical Bureau.

If we were to attack Xili, we would naturally need to send a group of medical officers to accompany the army as military doctors. According to the emperor's wishes, he also wanted to send the students from the Imperial Medical Bureau along.

Jiang Yuanzheng and the Imperial Physician exchanged a glance, both feeling that this was inappropriate. How much had those students actually learned?

Moreover, they are not soldiers, and the resources required for so many people are considerable.

If those students from the Bureau of Internal Medicine were to go to the battlefield, they would need to receive emergency training in medical techniques, since their primary field of study was internal medicine.

While external wound care techniques are studied, some suturing techniques used on the battlefield are lacking.

After listening for a moment, Wang Yang understood the situation and stood up, saying, "Your Majesty, I believe that the students of the Imperial Medical Bureau are already more skilled than some military doctors."

Leaving aside those military tents without even a medic, even in an army that does have a medic, many are temporarily recruited from local areas, and their medical skills are not very high.

Some were even forcibly conscripted.

"As for the issue of the methods used by the two imperial physicians in treating injuries, we can provide emergency training and then accumulate experience on the battlefield."

Wang Yang had a lot of experience with this; wasn't this how new recruits were trained to become veterans?

Of course, the prerequisite is to survive, but the military medics are all in the rear, so it's relatively safe.

The other officials from the Ministry of War echoed this sentiment, and even the Elder Zu nodded in agreement.

Therefore, Jiang Yuanzheng and the other two could not say anything.

When they came out, the Imperial Physician couldn't help but complain, "Young Master Xie didn't even greet us beforehand. He just went straight to His Majesty without any preparation."

"Well, this can be considered a good thing."

Jiang Yuanzheng saw it clearly. Seeing that everyone else had gone far away, he whispered, "If the students from the Imperial Medical Bureau were to join the military medical staff, our scope of responsibility would be much broader. Perhaps... we could exist independently."

They were not subject to the control of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices.

Xie Ning, who was being talked about by Jiang Yuanzheng and the other, carried his medicine box and went to take Princess Yanxi's pulse again, and also mentioned what he had said to the emperor that day.

She wouldn't offer any opinions on civil or military matters, as that could easily offend the scholar-official class. However, she was less reserved in front of Yan Xi.

Yan Xi grabbed a handful of fish food and threw it into the pond, which immediately caused a group of fish to leap out of the water.

"People are like fish, they need to fight." But emperors need checks and balances.

Xie Ning looked at Yan Xi; she seemed to have matured quite a bit.

“The chrysanthemums at my aunt’s house are certainly nice, but I don’t think Aning would like them. When the spring flowers have all fallen and the pomegranates are in bloom, I happen to have a 'Moon White' chrysanthemum, so I’ll give it to Aning.”

Then he opened his palm, looking at the calluses on it with satisfaction. "My riding and archery skills have improved a lot recently. When winter comes, we'll go hunting, and I'll personally hunt a deer for you."

Xie Ning raised an eyebrow slightly, not surprised that Yan Xi knew her whereabouts, and simply smiled and replied with a "okay".

Thick snow weighed down the winter clouds, but the two of them ultimately did not go hunting. The pomegranate flower caught a handful of jade sand, which fell again with a gust of cold wind.

The preliminary examination for children had already ended, and Xie Ning unsurprisingly ranked first. The emperor found this quite amusing, but in the end, he still granted Xie Ning the title of Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examination).

Since the title had already been given to Xie Ning, it wouldn't be appropriate to simply grant the other young ladies who were considered for the same title to the title of Lady. Instead, they were granted the title of Jinshi (a high-ranking scholar in the imperial examination).

As for granting official positions... the emperor felt he wasn't that foolish. These children weren't mature enough; wouldn't it be chaotic to make them officials? Although he longed for talented people, he didn't want just anyone.

Other adults disagreed with the emperor's views. They believed that boys could be given official positions, but girls could not, citing their young age as the reason, and that it was inconvenient for women to hold official positions, let alone girls.

This opposition was raised during the preliminary examination because they wanted to prevent the girl from continuing to participate in the selection and final examinations.

If he were to be granted an official position, he would wear flamboyant makeup and strange clothes, appearing before all the court officials. Wherever he went, people would gather to watch, and all would be astonished.

Xie Ning retorted directly to the emperor's face. How could she be dressed so strangely and extravagantly after standing in the court for so long? It was as if everyone was wearing official robes!

The adults, their faces sprayed with saliva: ...They'd forgotten that the top-ranked child examinee was already standing right beside them! A miscalculation!

Following Xie Ning's lead, other officials gradually began to express their approval, most of whom allowed their daughters to go out and take the imperial examinations for children.

Although at first they only thought that with Xie Ning standing in front, their daughter would be lucky to get a title.

Now that they can go even further, as the beneficiaries behind it, they naturally won't stop them.