Tong Cheng'er was born in the late 1990s. She was vaccinated against smallpox shortly after birth. She had heard very little about smallpox, and her only impression was that her high school biology teacher mentioned it once.

I've seen PowerPoint presentations of people who had contracted smallpox and whose bodies were covered in pustules.

Although that experience left a deep impression, it only lasted for a few days.

Having transmigrated to the Qing Dynasty, she spent her days in the backyard and rarely fell ill. She had never heard of anyone getting smallpox, so she never thought of it.

“If a cow has smallpox, its scabs can be used to inoculate a person’s arm, thus preventing the person from contracting smallpox.”

Upon hearing this, Yinzhen looked overjoyed: "Are you serious?"

"Of course I wouldn't lie to you. People in the future will be vaccinated against smallpox from birth, so no one will ever get smallpox. That's why I didn't expect smallpox."

She's someone who aspires to be a couch potato, so she wouldn't think about these things.

Looking back now, she regrets it a bit. This was a potentially fatal thing. Why didn't she think of it before?

Seeing her so confident and certain, Yinzhen knew she wasn't someone who spoke carelessly.

He immediately summoned Su Peisheng and instructed him, "Su Peisheng, summon the imperial physician."

Su Peisheng: "Yes, this servant will go right away."

After saying that, he left the study.

Seeing this, Tong Cheng'er said, "You're probably quite busy too. I can't help with important matters, so I won't bother you any longer."

Yinzhen nodded: "Go back and rest first, don't worry."

Tong Cheng'er nodded and then left.

Soon after, Su Peisheng brought the imperial physician over.

"This servant greets you..."

Before the imperial physician could finish speaking, Yinzhen interrupted him, saying, "No need for formalities, get up quickly and tell me what's going on."

The imperial physician looked worried: "Your Highness, thirteen people have been infected with smallpox and have been isolated. As for medication, you know there is no cure for smallpox."

Yinzhen nodded: "You've done everything you could. I called you here because I just heard something. There was a village where the cows got smallpox and developed pox. The cowherd didn't know and injured his arm. Some time later, the village broke out with smallpox, and everyone in the village was infected, except for the cowherd. You all know that smallpox can prevent smallpox to some extent. Do you think it's possible that cowpox can completely prevent smallpox?"

After Yinzhen said this, the imperial physicians all fell silent.

No one had ever tried using cowpox to prevent smallpox, and nobody knew what the situation was like.

Seeing that they were silent, Yinzhen asked, "Why isn't anyone saying anything?"

After a moment of silence, one of the imperial physicians spoke up: "Your Highness, it's not impossible, but no one has ever tried smallpox vaccination before, so it's hard to say whether it will work."

Yinzhen trusted his young wife completely, but others didn't know the inside story!

“Since no one has tried it, let someone try it. There should be no shortage of death row inmates in the Rehe Prefecture. Since they are all going to die anyway, they should at least do something to atone for their evil deeds in life.”

Upon hearing this, the imperial physicians all nodded in agreement with the method.

In ancient times, human life was cheap and worthless. The fact that the Fourth Prince didn't allow his servants to try this method was already an act of mercy. They could only say that the Fourth Prince was benevolent.

After the imperial physicians left, they began experimenting with smallpox vaccination.

Smallpox was contained in time and did not spread, but it still caused some panic, since smallpox was highly contagious and very few people who were infected with it survived.

Nearly a month later, good news finally came from the imperial physician.

"Your Highness, the smallpox vaccine is indeed effective, but the experimental scope is small, so we don't know if any other issues have arisen."

Yinzhen nodded; this was indeed good news.

"You all continue, I'll send this message to the capital first."

The imperial physician excitedly replied, "Yes, Fourth Prince."

Yinzhen waved his hand: "You all go and get busy!"

"yes."

Yinzhen sent the message back to the capital at top speed. Upon receiving the news, Kangxi couldn't help but burst into laughter, exclaiming, "Excellent! Heaven blesses the Qing Dynasty! Heaven blesses the Qing Dynasty!"

Liang Jiugong, who was serving nearby, was shocked to hear this. His Majesty had received news of the Fourth Prince and said such a thing. It seemed that the Fourth Prince was more important to His Majesty than he had thought.

After expressing his admiration, Kangxi immediately said, "Liang Jiugong, grind the ink."

“Zha”

Emperor Kangxi picked up his brush and began to write rapidly.

After finishing writing, he asked Liang Jiugong to summon the head of the Imperial Medical Academy, gave him some instructions, and then calmed down his excited heart.

Another half month passed, and after several experiments, the imperial physicians found that none of the death row prisoners who had been vaccinated against smallpox would contract smallpox again, without exception.

Another piece of news that was neither particularly good nor particularly bad was that of the thirteen people who were initially infected with smallpox, seven recovered after treatment. Compared to the previous near-death experiences, this seemed like good news.

Half a month later, Yinzhen sent the news to the capital. Kangxi had the imperial physicians conduct experiments as well. Because of the smallpox vaccine provided, the experiments were carried out very quickly.

After confirming the news, Emperor Kangxi immediately announced it at the grand court assembly.

As soon as the news came out, everyone immediately knelt down, shouted "Long live the Emperor!", and began saying things like "May God bless the Qing Dynasty."

Emperor Kangxi was very pleased. Since Yinzhen had discovered the matter, he didn't hide it from him and told him directly.

Seeing the Emperor's undisguised affection for the Fourth Prince, everyone followed suit and began praising Yinzhen, the Fourth Prince who was in Mongolia.

When the news reached Yinzhen, he experienced firsthand what it meant to say, "Although I am no longer in the martial world, my legend still lives on."

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!