Chapter 272 Vaccination

The space in the Qinzheng Hall was limited, so most officials could only stand in the square outside the hall to listen to government affairs.

Listening to the court in the open air is an extremely endurance-testing thing.

No matter the wind, frost, rain or snow, they had to stand under the sky. Not only were their feet stiff and about to crack, but they could not hear the political discussions in the hall clearly and could only rely on word of mouth from the officials in front.

Anyone who has played the word-of-mouth game knows that after a sentence is passed to ten people, it will most likely be completely distorted.

The official standing at the end of the line compared what he heard with the imperial edict read out by the scholar of the Hanlin Academy, and always felt that he was attending a fake court.

How can you not try your best to climb up?

What they didn't expect was that things would change one day.

When the sick cow covered with pox was led into the square, the officials in the Qinzheng Hall were still unaware of it. It was the official standing at the end of the team who first discovered it.

They were so shocked that they didn't even care about the court etiquette and asked in a panic, "What is this?"

The strong man who brought the ox in said, "This is an auspicious omen presented by the magistrate of Hecheng County in Hezhou."

Officials: “???”

Auspicious?

Which one is auspicious and which one is lucky?

White turtles, white deer and white peacocks are auspicious signs, okay?

Calling a sick cow auspicious means you don't want it anymore because its head is too heavy?

Or did they stand there for too long and have hallucinations and auditory hallucinations?

Some people couldn't help rubbing their eyes and pinching their ears. After rubbing, they looked at the cow again. It was the same as before, just an ordinary yellow cow covered with pimples.

"'Auspicious sign'? 'Disaster' is more like it."

Someone murmured.

Anyone who sees such a sick cow would be frightened and want to stay away from it.

The officials in front of the hall heard the commotion behind them and turned their heads to look, but their vision was blocked by layers of obstacles and they could not see anything. Fortunately, the news was passed from the back to the front.

"A county magistrate in Hezhou brought a disaster to the palace."

The officials widened their eyes.

Can the disaster still be sent?

I must have heard it wrong. It must be that a county magistrate in Hezhou caused a big disaster and the news reached the palace.

When their whispers were heard by officials in the palace, the incident became known as "another disaster in Hezhou."

Ji Changqing, who had received the news before going to court and knew when the smallpox cow would be sent to the palace, heard this: "..."

He glanced outside the hall and said to the officials inside, "To distinguish between smallpox and pox, effective immediately, pox will be renamed smallpox. The Epidemic Prevention Department has found a prescription for preventing smallpox, which will be demonstrated and explained by Secretary Feng later."

Officials: “?!”

Can pox, no, smallpox be prevented?

Out of caution, someone asked, "Your Highness, what do you mean by prevention..."

Ji Changqing replied: "People who use the preventive prescription will be like people who have had smallpox. They will not be infected with smallpox for the rest of their lives."

The officials were shocked.

Ji Changqing then invited Feng Qingsui into the hall.

Feng Qingsui explained in detail to the officials the principle of using cowpox vaccination to prevent smallpox, and then said: "Cowpox is less toxic than smallpox, and people infected with it are almost non-fatal. If everyone in the world is vaccinated with cowpox, smallpox will be completely eradicated."

The officials were shocked again.

Every time smallpox breaks out, it takes countless lives. Can vaccination with cowpox make smallpox disappear?

Is there such a good thing in the world?

It's a bit hard to believe.

"This recipe came from the Empress Dowager, who personally verified its effectiveness," Feng Qingsui continued. "The magistrate of Hecheng County in Hezhou has already found a suitable smallpox vaccine. The Epidemic Prevention Department will promote smallpox vaccination throughout Daxi, and it is expected that universal vaccination will be achieved within fifteen years."

Then he briefly talked about the vaccination plan.

Ji Changqing waited for her to finish speaking, then waved his hand and asked all the officials to leave the hall.

"The smallpox cow has been sent to the palace as a sign of good fortune. I will be the first to be vaccinated. You may line up and take your turn."

Officials: “…”

The vaccination has started now?

They haven't thought about it yet!

Wait, it turns out that Hezhou offered a good omen, not a disaster?

Officials standing at the back of the square outside the palace: It’s finally your turn to experience the morning court rumors.

After the scholar of the Hanlin Academy read out the decree on vaccination, the officials outside the palace realized that the sick cow was used to collect smallpox vaccines to prevent smallpox.

"It can actually prevent smallpox! No wonder it's called auspicious."

They suddenly understood.

But I still don't quite believe it.

Can inoculating humans with cow pox protect against smallpox?

It sounds a bit unreliable.

"Why is it unreliable?" Shangguan Mu heard their mumbling and said, "Eating walnuts can nourish the brain, eating eggs can nourish the kidneys, and eating pig blood can nourish the blood. Why can't the cowpox vaccination prevent smallpox?"

Officials: “…”

Seems to make some sense?

The smallpox cow was led to the center of the square. The officials surrounded it in circles, standing on tiptoe and looking up, watching Feng Qingsui's operations without blinking.

She picked open a pox on the smallpox cow, scraped off the liquid, and then used a silver needle to prick Ji Changqing's left upper arm a few times and applied the liquid.

After applying it, he said, "In about three to four days, red papules will appear here, and then pustules will form. When the pustules burst and scab off, a small pit will be left behind."

"Most people will experience low-grade fever and fatigue. Some may develop herpes all over the body, have high fever and convulsions, and require treatment."

When some officials heard this, they immediately decided to back out.

Isn't this still risky?

It is better to wait until the vaccination mortality rate is calculated before considering vaccination.

Wen Jiming, who had become a fan of the Empress Dowager, listened with great interest. Not only was he the first to sign up for the vaccination, he also asked, "How old do children have to be to be vaccinated?"

Feng Qingsui said, "One year old is enough."

After Wen Jiming rolled up his sleeves and finished the cowpox vaccination, he thought about returning to the hospital and discussing with Qi Yuzhen to have his two children vaccinated as soon as possible.

This way there would be no need to worry about them contracting smallpox.

The person who got vaccinated right after Wen Jiming was Shangguan Mu.

After Shangguan Mu finished, he asked Feng Qingsui, "When will the students of Qingquan Academy be scheduled for vaccination?"

When Feng Qingsui heard this, he knew that he was concerned about Pei Minru's vaccination.

He smiled and said, "They will probably be arranged in the first batch with the children from the Salesian Home."

Shangguan Mu immediately felt much more at ease.

Led by Ji Changqing, Wen Jiming and Shangguan Mu, other young officials also lined up to get vaccinated against cowpox.

Older officials have more concerns and plan to wait and see the effects of the vaccination on these people before making a decision.

After vaccinating the court officials, most of the cow's smallpox serum was used up. Feng Qingsui frowned and said, "If we want to vaccinate everyone, I'm afraid we'll have to open cattle farms everywhere."

Ji Changqing said, "I have sent a message to all the prefectures and counties, asking them to start raising cattle."

Feng Qingsui nodded.

She took some of the serum back to the Zong Mansion and vaccinated Wuhua and the entire Zong family with cowpox. Then she went to the Ji Mansion and vaccinated Qi and everyone in the Ji Mansion.

As a sixth-rank official, Pei Yunzhan was not eligible to attend the morning court. However, after learning of the imperial edict, he returned from the office and went to find his father and said, "Dad, the Pei family must sign up for the vaccination as soon as possible."

Pei Linghuai frowned: "It's not clear whether this cowpox really has a preventive effect..."

Pei Yunzhan: "Are you going to wait until the day of verification before planting?"

Pei Linghuai: "..."

"Do you believe in vaccination?"