Chapter 239 Personal Vaccination
Her eyes widened, and after a moment's hesitation, she rushed forward, kneeling before Xu Zhenying and knocking her head noisily, tears streaming down her face as she said, "City Lord, I am Li Zhaodi's mother. Do you still remember me? That scholar Li cruelly kicked me out of the house, and Aunt Hu took possession of my son. That adulterous couple must die a miserable death! City Lord, please, for Li Zhaodi's sake, have mercy on me! Or just send someone to drive Aunt Hu away!"
"Bah!" Qian Zhenniang stood up and spat at Cao Qin'er across the carriage, her eyes red as she said, "How dare you mention Li Zhaodi's name? You were the one who killed her! You deserve this fate. It's all your own fault. It's God's will!"
Ming Xiaoshuang also said, "Hurry up and leave! What the hell? On such a happy day, you run into this filthy thing!"
Xu Zhenying glanced at Cao Qin'er condescendingly, and her heart seemed to be hurt by something. In a trance, she remembered Li Zhaodi's voice, appearance and smile again.
There is also the little introduction chapter that was treated as a two-legged sheep and shared as food.
She turned her head away, suppressing her inner grief and anger, and said to An Peilin, "Pass the order down. If she dares to appear in front of me again, have her legs broken!"
An Peilin had never seen that expression on Xu Zhenying's face.
It seems sad, it seems fragile.
Although An Peilin didn't know what happened, he had already remembered Cao Qin'er's appearance in his heart. He clasped his fists in response and then called Yan Xuesong over, "Go get that woman away."
Yan Xuesong took the order and left.
The carriage then left the woman far behind, and her wailing could be heard from a long distance away.
Qian Zhenniang's eyes were red, so Fang Ningmo secretly pinched her hand to comfort her.
Then Xu Zhenying said, "It's a happy day, don't let irrelevant people disturb your mood. Mother Ju is still waiting for us to celebrate!"
Everyone adjusted their mood and got back on the road.
Zhou Houfang naturally did not ask who the woman was.
She clearly knew that the woman should be known to the elders in the Xu family.
Judging from their appearance, there must be some hatred between the two groups.
At this moment in the medical school, Qiu Ju'niang and others had just returned from the deserted village when they received the news that Xu Zhenying was coming to Lan County.
Fang Xun has already brought people to wait at the medical school.
The leaders of the medical school have already taken their positions, and many medical students have also learned of this historic news and have chosen to stay.
Some even called their friends and got out of bed.
The entire medical school was immersed in unspeakable joy and excitement.
They cleaned up the medical school overnight, made a red silk welcome cloth in a hurry, and then all stood at the door, craning their necks to wait for Xu Zhenying's arrival.
Doctor Qiu also called the female students who were applying medicine with Qiu Juniang to the front row of the team. The girls blushed and tried to hide behind, but were stopped by Dean He.
Dean He smiled and said, "You are a teachable young man. You guys actually dared to follow the teacher into battle. You are really brave. Didn't you say before that you wanted to see what the city lord looks like? Now stand in front, and you will have a good look later-"
The little girls blushed with shame and had to stand in the front row disrespectfully. Even some teachers made room for them.
Qiu Ju'niang and others, as well as a dozen or so doctors who were studying cowpox together, all looked excited at this moment.
Once this cowpox comes out, the whole world will remember their names, and the whole history will remember their names.
It is conceivable that their names will appear in any medical book in the future, which is a matter of pride.
All these achievements are due not only to their efforts, but also to Xu Zhenying's continued support and guidance.
It can be said that without Xu Zhenying, there would be no cowpox vaccine.
As expected, following the city lord, there is a bright future!
Everyone had their own thoughts, and at this moment they looked at the end of the dim light with some anxiety.
Finally, a voice was heard from the darkness.
Someone immediately asked, "Is the city lord here?"
"I thought I heard the sound of a carriage—"
The man who was sent to wait for the letter stumbled back, shouting joyfully as he ran: "Here they come, here they come, the city lord and his men are here!"
Fang Xun made a gesture of invitation to Qiu Ju Niang and said with a smile, "The meritorious officials should go first."
Qiu Ju Niang knew Fang Xun was joking, but the crowd's cheers and congratulations still made her blush unconsciously. "County Magistrate Fang, all of this depends on the support of the City Lord and you. Without you, I, Qiu Ju Niang, would not be where I am today. You lead the way, and I, Qiu Ju Niang, will always follow."
Fang Xun was a little surprised by the double entendre.
I had the impression that Qiu Ju'niang was a cold-faced workaholic, but I didn't expect that she would have such a delicate moment of emotion.
Fang Xun smiled and said, "We don't need to bother with this empty formality. Let's go and greet the city lord together."
Before Xu Zhenying even reached the medical school, he noticed a bright light in front of him, as bright as day. He pointed there and said, "Look, it's not just us tonight. I'm afraid everyone else is too happy to sleep tonight."
The carriage gradually stopped, and Xu Zhenying was the first to get off. She looked up and saw Qiu Ju Niang already standing right in front of her. She was very excited and said, "City Lord, you have finally lived up to my expectations and developed a smallpox vaccine."
Xu Zhenying was also very excited, but he appeared calm on the surface. "Where are the experimental records? Let me see them. Let's talk about the experiment while we walk."
Qiu Ju'niang had long anticipated that Xu Zhenying would look at their experimental process records, so she had someone collect and organize them early on. Now, a thick stack of information was handed over, and Xu Zhenying began to read it at a glance.
"City Lord, following your instructions, we first found many cows that had been infected with cowpox. We tallied their origins, species, ages, and other information. Then, we extracted some of the cowpox and applied it to the affected areas. Initially, we used prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment, but the results weren't very good. Two of the ten prisoners died after contracting smallpox. Later, through observation, we discovered that the two who died were frail and had underlying illnesses. This is why we realized that cowpox vaccination isn't suitable for everyone. Those who are too young or too old, or those who are in poor health or have existing illnesses are not suitable for vaccination."
Two people walked in front, walking side by side into the house.
Xu Zhenying was so focused on watching that he didn't even notice that both sides of the yard were filled with people watching the fun.
"Later, I and several healthy students went in to conduct the experiment. We first used a knife to prick a small wound and then applied the virus. For the first few days, there was a low-grade fever, general weakness, and nausea, but it was short-lived. By the fifth day, there was almost nothing wrong. Therefore, we preliminarily concluded that the cowpox vaccination method could be applied to ordinary people. However, the biggest problem at the moment is the insufficient sample size, which prevents further precise analysis of its pros and cons. I am worried that if the sample size is expanded, there will still be a risk of casualties."
Fang Ningmo met Fang Xun. After the two siblings greeted each other from a distance, Fang Ningmo quietly walked through the crowd and came to her brother's side.
Fang Ningmo winked at him, "Cousin, that's great! It hasn't been that long and you've already accomplished something so great! Once this cowpox vaccine is established, we'll all go down in history!"
Fang Xun said, "This is all thanks to the city lord and the doctors. It's not our turn. But working for the city lord means we will definitely get some credit."
Fang Ningmo also nodded. "That's true. I don't know who the City Lord is and why he has so many bizarre and amazing ideas in his head."
"You still have time to think about these things." Fang Xun glared at her. "You're working in the Ministry of Education now, and that's probably not an easy job. Universal education in more than a dozen counties, a literacy rate of 60% within five years—"
Fang Xun patted her shoulder with a gloating look on his face, "Teacher Fang, you have a long way to go—"
Fang Ningmo pulled her hair in pain, "If you mention this again, I won't talk to you."
Fang Xun looked at Xu Zhenying, who was surrounded by people. The man had a thin figure, but he inexplicably possessed an unshakable strength like a mountain. He sighed, "Following the City Lord is very tiring, but somehow, my heart feels fulfilled. Ning Mo, we have truly met the right person and the right time. I feel... we will definitely leave our names in history one day."
Xu Zhenying walked slowly into the inner hall and saw that the lights were bright and the room was full of people. There were also many medical students looking in curiously outside.
Xu Zhenying looked at the eager faces, then put away the lab records and said with a smile, "Don't underestimate yourself, Dean Qiu. This thick stack of lab records shows how solidly you've progressed this work. I think everyone here understands the significance of the smallpox vaccine better than I do."
Qiu Ju Niang's eyes sparkled as she spoke word for word, "It means we have completely defeated smallpox and saved at least tens of millions of lives."
Xu Zhenying also felt a little emotional. She didn't expect that she really changed the course of history.
Will the world she is familiar with ever reappear one day?
"Indeed, this is a truly remarkable achievement. Your contributions will be recorded in history for generations to come."
Xu Zhenying's words made everyone unable to hide their excitement.
"So I've decided to build a Hall of Fame in Jinzhou Prefecture, starting with your names. From now on, anyone who has made outstanding contributions to the country, humanity, and history will be included in the Hall of Fame, enjoying the incense and admiration of countless future generations."
Xu Zhenying is not an idealist, and he does not believe in souls, ghosts, or the like.
But she knew that the ancients believed in this and used it to buy and motivate people, especially women. Women like Qiu Ju Niang, if they never married and had no offspring, would be seen by everyone as wandering ghosts with no one to worship them after their death.
It is said that rumors can kill people. She doesn't want those girls who work diligently and take huge risks to be insulted by such values before they die.
The saying goes, if you can't beat them, join them.
Now that she has let the girls enter the Hall of Fame, they will be worshipped by countless descendants, which is a comfort to them and their families.
Qian Zhenniang smiled and said, "Isn't that just like the Taimiao of the Great Zhou Dynasty?"
Sure enough, it was Dr. Qiu whose eyes turned red faster than Qiu Ju'niang's.
He subconsciously looked at Qiu Juniang, but saw that Qiu Juniang did not seem to realize the intention of this famous figure. Instead, she just gathered around Xu Zhenying, and the two of them kept whispering to each other over the experimental records.
It seems that compared to entering the Hall of Fame, Qiu Ju Niang is more interested in perfecting her experimental procedures.
In contrast, the other doctors were all delighted.
Doctor He, however, was clearly more concerned about the promotion and application of the cowpox vaccine. He quickly approached Xu Zhenying and asked, "City Lord, our cowpox vaccine has achieved initial success. How do you plan to promote it? Or do you want to test it on more subjects to confirm its safety before rolling it out?"
"Even if we increase the number of samples, we in Jinzhou Prefecture won't be able to find that many serious criminals. As for promotion, we must naturally do our best to promote it, starting with our Lan County. County Magistrate Fang, you will publicize it tomorrow and use various methods to encourage the people to get vaccinated."
Xu Zhenying smiled, as if thinking of something. "I forgot. The best advertisement is myself. How about this? Go back and post a notice tonight, saying that I, Xu Zhenying, will be the first to receive the cowpox vaccine. Tomorrow at noon at the Lan County Square, Dean Qiu will personally vaccinate me. I sincerely invite everyone to come and witness the birth of the cowpox vaccine."
Xu Zhenying's words shocked the whole audience.
Unexpectedly, the first person to refuse was Qiu Ju Niang: "City Lord, this is absolutely not possible! You are a person of great wealth, how can you put yourself in such a dangerous place?!"
Xu Zhenying stared at her and smiled: "Didn't you also test the medicine yourself? Why don't you believe in your own research results?"
"City Lord, this is two different things! Once we have more test subjects and ensure safety, you can come and test the medicine again!"
"No need," Xu Zhenying said firmly. "If we want to quickly spread the use of cowpox to the people, the best way is for me to vaccinate myself. Only when people see me vaccinate will they truly believe that cowpox can prevent smallpox."
Qian Zhenniang and Ming Xiaoshuang were also anxious. Qian Zhenniang said, "City Lord, it's not necessary for you to get vaccinated in person. I'll go. I'm your secretary. Most people in Lan County know me. I can also achieve the desired publicity effect."
Fang Xun also said: "If there is anyone who is suitable, then it is naturally me, the magistrate of Lan County, who is the most suitable."
Ming Xiaoshuang also advised: "City Lord, you are the most distinguished person in Jinzhou Prefecture. You must not make any mistakes——"
Xu Zhenying looked at the eager faces and said with a smile, "Why rush? Since everyone is willing, I'll take the lead. Fang Xun and I will get vaccinated in Lan County, and Xiaoshuang and Zhenniang will go to Jinzhou Prefecture. Every time we arrive at a place, let the county magistrate start the vaccination first, so that the people will trust us. Without further ado, County Magistrate Fang, this is settled. I will be the one to get vaccinated in the square at noon tomorrow. You can have the propagandists go door to door to mobilize people. First, fool them by saying that the vaccination tomorrow will be free, but there will be a fee later."
Doctor He said, "City Lord, we've considered that the cost of cowpox vaccination is very low. Our medical school has always been supported by the national treasury. Could we also cooperate with merchants like the research institute? Even if we only charge a few cents per vaccination, it would be a considerable income for the national treasury."
Xu Zhenying shook his head. "President He, I know you want to give back to the national treasury as quickly as possible, but the medical industry is different from research institutes. Once you collaborate with businesses, there are too many uncontrollable factors. Furthermore, there's no technical skill involved in cowpox vaccination, so it's easy for barefoot doctors or businesses to learn it. It's not that I'm afraid of them learning, but I'm afraid they'll learn half-heartedly and end up killing people."
"Then what the city lord means is——"
"It will be free in Jinzhou Prefecture first. Whether they are local residents of Jinzhou Prefecture, Xingyuan Prefecture, or residents from the west and south, as long as they come to Jinzhou Prefecture, we will give them free vaccinations."
Both Dean He and Qiu Ju'niang were a little bit unbelievable.
The doctors who were working on the research looked at each other in bewilderment. Some even said anxiously, "City Lord, please think twice! How can we let outsiders get away with such excellent technology? If we do that, won't all those people flee to our Jinzhou territory?"
Xu Zhenying glanced at the man, then smiled meaningfully, "We need to recruit them. Only when they come here will they understand what kind of place our Jinzhou Prefecture is and what kind of life we lead, and only then will they come closer to us."
There were several people present, and some were wondering why they needed to absorb people from other places. Weren’t there enough people in Jinzhou Prefecture?
Those with quick minds already understood Xu Zhenying's deeper meaning.
Use the cowpox vaccine to open up the situation and let the people on both sides of Jinzhou Prefecture move closer to them. The King of Zhoushan in the west and the Kings of Li and Li in the south are all refugees under their command. If these people can be absorbed, it will be easy for Jinzhou Prefecture to advance to both wings.
Qian Zhenniang, the head of the Propaganda Department, immediately realized what was going on and said, "City Lord, I'll write a promotional plan when I get back. I'll promote the smallpox vaccine in Jinzhou Prefecture as quickly as possible. I'll make sure our vaccine's reputation reaches the world!"
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In the golden autumn of October, two hundred women organized from various counties in Jinzhou Prefecture, led by Lian, set out for Xingyuan Prefecture to make cotton clothes.
This huge team of migrant workers, protected by twenty soldiers, slowly embarked on a new journey with the farewell of their loved ones.
Lian naturally invited Aunt Feng and Fang Si Niang to join. The three of them became friends since their exile and have been cooperating with Miao to handle logistics work.
Now that they were asked to lead the team to Xingyuan Prefecture, they could not only do their work but also take the opportunity to have some fun. They were in a really good mood.
In their team of migrant workers, many women have worked hard in the backyard all their lives and have hardly ever left their village.
Now, encouraged by their enlightened children and husbands, they have stepped out of their homes and even out of Jinzhou Prefecture. How can they not be joyful?
Of course, most of them have children who work as clerks. They trust Xu Zhenying and also hope that their mothers, who have been trapped in the village all their lives, can leave.
Because these women's sons and daughters are officials, they can hold their heads high and have a say in the village, so they are not afraid of rumors.
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