Chapter 1576: Spending Money
The prince also thought it was not expensive at first, and Xiao Yuanzheng had also mentioned the unit price of the medicinal materials, but just now they calculated the number of prescriptions needed, and the prince instantly knew that even if this memorial was submitted, the Ministry of Revenue would not approve it.
He said, "Even if a dose of medicine only costs six cents, do you know how much medicine we have to distribute in the capital alone?"
Manbao shook his head. How could she know?
She is not a county magistrate.
The prince said, "There are a total of 334,670 households in the capital, a total of 920,000 people. Even if only one-third of these 920,000 people come to get the anti-heat medicine, we still need 360,700 doses. Each dose costs six cents. Can you calculate how much that would cost?"
Manbao was stunned for a moment and then said, "One million, eight hundred and forty thousand and two hundred coins..."
Just as he was about to tell her the amount of money he had finally calculated, Zhou Man paused as soon as he said it, raised his eyelids and glanced at her, "You calculated it quickly."
He said, "This only counts the population of the capital, and the areas severely affected this time include Yongzhou and Shangzhou..."
Of course, the combined population of the two states is less than half of that of the capital, but the expenses will still not be small because there are also shipping costs.
With so much money, they still have to prepare part of it for drought relief in the future.
Manbao stood there counting on his fingers and sighed, "It's not easy for His Majesty and Minister Liu either."
The prince...
He knows that his father has a hard life, but what does this have to do with Minister Liu?
Although he is in charge of the national treasury, there is really no money in the treasury, and his father can't kill him, right?
He felt that apart from the emperor, he should be the one with the most difficult situation, because it was obvious that the emperor had mainly entrusted the disaster relief task to him this time.
The prince, who rarely worried about money, now began to worry about it. He asked Manbao, "Do you have any cheaper recipes?"
Man Bao shook his head. "For the prescriptions for relieving summer heat and avoiding epidemics, the two prescriptions given by Dean Xiao are really the cheapest. However, there is another prescription that may be even more effective. It uses Atractylodes lancea, dried tangerine peel, Magnolia officinalis, Angelica dahurica, Poria cocos, raw Pinellia ternata, Patchouli, and Perilla frutescens. It's a good prescription, but it's a little more expensive than the one prescribed by Dean Xiao."
The prince said: "I am asking for cheap ones, not expensive ones."
"We can't ignore the efficacy of the medicine."
The two stared at each other, and the prince was a little unhappy. He waved his hand and said, "Alright, there's no point looking for you. Go down and call in Xiao Yuanzheng and Doctor Liu."
Manbao walked out with his head down, and said to Xiao Yuanzheng and Doctor Liu who were waiting at the side hall door, "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince wants you to come in."
Doctor Liu, who had just whispered to Xiao Yuanzheng that the prince really trusted Zhou Man, saw her walking away with her head hung, and couldn't help but look at Xiao Yuanzheng.
Just as the two were about to call her to ask what was going on, Eunuch Wu came out and invited them into the hall with a smile.
The two looked at each other and had no choice but to go in with Eunuch Wu to see the prince.
Manbao returned to Chongwen Hall and happened to see Bai Shan and the others finishing their classes. Seeing that she was frowning, he went up to her and asked, "What are you thinking about? You didn't even respond when I called you."
Man Bao said, "I just realized that the imperial court is too poor to afford even a cheap summer-relief potion."
"What's the summer heat potion?"
Manbao recounted in detail the prince's request, then said, "I'm racking my brains right now. Is there any recipe that costs less than six coins?"
Bai Erlang, standing by, said in disbelief, "It's only six coins. Can't you even afford a meat pie? And you even need to ask the court for a heat-relief potion?"
Bai Shan said: "Poor families may not even be able to come up with a penny, let alone six cents."
He said, "In matters like this, we should not judge others by our own standards."
Manbao nodded repeatedly, "Besides, it's human nature to be greedy for bargains. If there's a free summer potion, why wouldn't they take it?"
Anyway, if it were her father, brother and sister-in-law, they would definitely go to get it, so even if the supply was really released, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince might not be able to prepare enough according to one-third of the population of the capital.
Manbao was worried, but Bai Shan thought for a moment and asked, "It seems that everyone needs to take medicine?"
"Not really. It's too hot right now. They're trying to prevent heat stroke and epidemics," Manbao said. "Especially for people who are out and about in this kind of weather. They're all carrying some heat poison."
Bai Shan said, "But illnesses always have different levels of severity and urgency, so the prescriptions should be the same, right? Are you planning to use the same prescription for everyone?"
Manbao said, "As long as they don't take other medicines when taking this medicine, there will be no problem. Even if the illness is not that serious, there will be no problem if they take it."
She said, "This is the simplest method. Just prescribe a decoction that everyone can drink. Otherwise, if we really have to send doctors like us out to treat people and prescribe medicine, the cost would be really high."
Bai Shan asked, "Can't we classify the medicine into different levels? For example, for mild illnesses, we can use one prescription with fewer herbs, and for more serious illnesses, we can use another prescription. The prescriptions are determined by the disease."
Manbao stroked his chin thoughtfully and began to think, "You're right. For people like you, even if you feel thirsty and hot, you don't need to drink too much medicine. Just boil some Centella asiatica and drink it."
Manbao came from Jishidiang. I remember that when she was a child, she picked Centella asiatica for Jishidiang and sold it for money.
Centella asiatica is sold by the pound. How much is one pound?
There are many medicinal herbs in the world that have the same effects as Centella asiatica, and they grow everywhere in the wild.
Manbao began to calculate in his mind, "If we simply boiled a detoxifying and summer-heat-relieving potion, it would indeed be much cheaper and more convenient, but how can we ensure that people who come to get the medicine will honestly take the single Centella asiatica and not the prescription?"
Bai Shan also began to think about it. Bai Erlang scratched his head and said, "Just like giving away porridge, the government would boil the medicine and then distribute it?"
Bai Shan pointed at the big sun in the sky and asked him, "Are you going to get the medicine in such a scorching sun?"
Manbao couldn't help but burst out laughing. He was afraid that he would faint from the sun before he even got the potion.
Bai Erlang asked, "Then what do you say we should do?"
Bai Shande went to class, so he said, "Don't you still have to go see the Crown Princess? Go to the palace over there first, and we can discuss it when you come back."
Manbao nodded, went back to his room to collect his medicine box, and then went to Daming Palace.
The Crown Princess's belly was getting bigger and bigger. Manbao hadn't visited her for several days. This time, he felt the fetal position for her and found that it was a little abnormal, but it was not a big problem. Manbao taught her some movements and asked her to practice them every day to correct the fetal position.
The Crown Princess became nervous when she heard about the abnormal fetal position, "Will something happen?"
Manbao comforted her, "It's okay, it's just a little bit out of position. Babies will keep moving in the womb, so a slightly out of position is normal. With some exercise, the baby will be in the right position."
When the Crown Princess heard this, she felt relieved.
(End of this chapter)
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