Chapter 1692 Examination
Dean Xiao didn't really care whether there were enough female disciples. Originally, all the doctors in the Imperial Medical Bureau were men except Zhou Man, so it was naturally better to teach male students.
There were not enough female students, so it would be better to replace them all with male students. He originally thought that the ratio of 8:2 was the best.
But the Queen spoke up, the Crown Prince was also indulgent, and even Lord Yang spoke a few words on Zhou Man's behalf, and only then did he agree to the ratio of 7:3.
The registration period was about to end, and he never expected that the palace would send more than seventy young palace maids for examination.
The female official who brought them over smiled and said, "The Empress said that as long as they pass the Imperial Medical Bureau's examination, they will be released and will be members of the Imperial Medical Bureau from now on. So Dean Xiao can rest assured, the palace will not interfere."
Xiao Yuanzheng guessed that it was Zhou Man who did it, so he could only force a smile and agree. After accepting the person, he turned around and ran to settle the score with Zhou Man.
Zhou Man didn't think he was wrong. "After all, this is the first year of enrollment. What if we don't enroll enough people?"
Dean Xiao's lips trembled as he spoke, "Do you still think we haven't recruited enough people? Have you ever thought about how many doctors there are in the Imperial Hospital? Everyone has to work there on a daily basis, and also go to the Imperial Medical Bureau for classes. Do you know how tiring it is to take so many classes?"
"This isn't just for one year. We'll have to enroll students next year, and the year after..."
Man Bao said, "If there aren't enough, then recruit more. Didn't you say that the doctors in the Imperial Hospital are usually too idle and have no hope of advancement, so they inevitably engage in intrigue? Now it's so good! Everyone is busy and they still get double the salary."
Although doctors in the Imperial Medical Bureau do not have official land, they do receive a salary, which is quite high.
Xiao Yuanzheng was choked and asked, "When did I say that?"
"Why didn't you tell me? When His Majesty had a high fever, I heard you and Doctor Liu whispering about it."
Xiao Yuanzheng: "...You have really sharp ears."
Manbao: "I'm sleeping on the wooden couch next to me, but I'm not completely asleep."
Xiao Yuanzheng waved his hands with a headache and said, "Alright, the exam is tomorrow, you are not allowed to give me a break."
Manbao assured, "Don't worry, I will not let you down if I'm invigilating. Since you want to study medicine, you naturally need to be suitable for it."
After all, the term is not short. If they recruit an unsuitable person, it will not only harm the other person, but also their Imperial Medical Bureau, right?
The exams are divided into many subjects. Physical therapy students must be literate, so they have a written exam on the first day. Not only do they have to write, but they also have to test some very basic medical knowledge, such as "You see a person with a red face and red eyes on the street. What do you think is wrong with him?" and other common sense tests.
Although it was a general knowledge test, many people still couldn't answer it. Manbao couldn't quite understand it, but Doctor Liu was used to it. "It looks easy to us because we've learned it, but some children don't even know that two sticks put together make two."
Manbao said, "But they can read."
Doctor Liu shook his head, smiled and said nothing.
It was also for this reason that Zhou Liru performed quite well in the course. After all, she had studied medicine for quite some time and basically knew all the herbs.
Of course, there are many people who are as outstanding as her and have basically passed the exam. Most of them come from medical families and have had previous contact with medicine.
Manbao corrected the papers and found that Zhou Liru could be ranked within the top 30, but was outside the top 20. There were two girls ahead of her who were better than her.
This requires literacy and a written test. Those who do not need literacy and a written test will be tested one by one by the gentlemen. Of course, there are five gentlemen sitting on the table each time. When one person goes in, the gentlemen take turns asking and answering questions, and then score them based on their answers. Finally, the candidates are admitted after the scores are combined.
The imperial doctors were very down-to-earth. They would take some herbs that could be found everywhere in the countryside and ask people who came in if they knew what the herbs were, whether they had used them before, and how they were used.
Or they may ask if you have ever been sick before, whether you have seen a doctor, what illness you had, and do you remember how you were treated?
Alternatively, some doctors would directly ask the patient what the acupuncture point is, whether he has ever felt pain, and what he did if he felt pain.
Manbao gave people a lot of IQ questions, such as if a cow's tail is on fire, what would you do?
Not to mention the students, even the examiners didn't know what to do. While the students were out, they turned around and asked Manbao, "What's the answer to this question?"
Manbao shook his head. "There's no answer. I'm just asking because I'm curious about what they'll do."
Xiao Yuanzheng and others: ...
In addition, the imperial physicians’ favorite questions were about numerology. For example, one liang of Chuanxiong costs 28 wen, and a patient needs to buy eight liang of Chuanxiong. How much does it cost in total?
Questions like these almost drove the literate and illiterate candidates crazy.
The exam lasted for five days in total. There was no other way because many candidates were illiterate and could only take the exam in person instead of in writing.
Meeting them one by one is naturally slower.
Basically, those with a medical background are all heading for physical therapy, acupuncture, and oncology, so the competition is really fierce. As for other departments, most of them have no foundation at all, so they can only select those who look smart and suitable.
For example, massage requires a lot of strength, and in the end only two girls were selected from the class of twenty people.
To the surprise of Xiao Yuanzheng and others, most of the young palace maids from the palace took the acupuncture exam. It was Manbao who persuaded them that acupuncture could not select so many people, so they dispersed to choose other subjects and avoided killing each other.
After five days, Manbao was almost exhausted from talking too much. When he returned home, he took out some dried chrysanthemums and made tea with them.
Mingda and Changyu secretly ran to the East Palace to play with her. They sat cross-legged on her bed and talked to her. "I heard from the young palace maids that you asked many people what they would do if they saw someone fall into the water. Many of them said they would not save the person, but you didn't accept them. Some said they would jump into the water to save the person, but you didn't accept them either. How do you choose people?"
Manbao held the teacup and drank the chrysanthemum water, saying, "This isn't just one question, it's many. I even asked them if they could swim and if they had ever been in the water. If they can't swim but jump in to save someone, isn't that just adding to the chaos? A life was lost in vain."
"If you don't want to save people, you can call for help. Look around for a stick and give it to someone to pull them up."
Chang Yu was puzzled. "What do these questions have to do with being a doctor? I feel like the questions you ask are so confusing. I heard that Dean Xiao once asked someone, if you didn't eat for three days, and a pot of meat and a pot of vegetables were placed in front of you, would you choose the meat or the vegetables?"
Man Bao said: "A doctor should have a kind heart. It is not advisable to turn around and leave without saving the patient."
See you at 4 p.m.
(End of this chapter)
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