Chapter 2108 Bargaining
After waiting for three days, neither No. 2 nor No. 3 had any more pox. The three imperial doctors breathed a sigh of relief, put the scabs collected from them into bottles, labeled them, and sealed them.
The two of them remained in this house to recuperate, while Manbao and the others changed their clothes and went into the palace to meet the emperor.
They brought with them the notes they had taken during those days.
The emperor didn't know much about medicine, so he specially called in several ministers to listen with him, especially Lord Tang, who came from a criminal background and knew more about medicine.
As a representative, Xiao Yuanzheng recounted the test data of this period in detail.
The emperor flipped through the pulse case on the table and handed it to Gu Zhong, asking him to show it to the adults below.
Wei Zhixian looked at the start time and asked, "In other words, it's only been fifteen days since the vaccination."
"Yes," Xiao Yuanzheng said, "but in fact, their pox outbreak lasts only five to nine days, which is also within the onset period of smallpox patients. But on average, the pox outbreak period is slightly lower than the overall pox outbreak period."
Manbao added: "The number of people we tested was too small, so the data may not be very accurate."
The emperor and several ministers understood her implication, which was that she wanted to experiment on more people.
The emperor knocked on the table and said, "In other words, vaccination is indeed effective. People who have had smallpox will not get it again."
Wei Zhi pondered the risks and then poured a bucket of ice water on him. "Your Majesty, only one out of every three people died. This ratio is still too high. Even a war wouldn't necessarily result in so many casualties. This smallpox treatment method needs further consideration."
Man Bao immediately said, "Yes, human pox is still not safe enough, so I want to go to the Western Regions to find a method to cure cowpox. I heard that cowpox is much safer than human pox. I beg Your Majesty to help me."
Manbao bowed deeply.
The emperor waved his hand and said, "Let's discuss this later. There's no rush. It's only the end of February. By the way, this number three seems much safer. How about trying it on the pox on his body?"
Man Bao and Xiao Yuanzheng exchanged a glance and said, "Yes, we agree. By comparing it with the No. 2 sample, we can determine whether the less toxic the pox scab, the safer it is. We will also know how to select the right pox serum for planting in the future."
Xiao Yuanzheng continued, "It's just that there are no more prisoners sentenced to death by beheading in the Ministry of Justice's prison, and there are only a few sentenced to hanging, so..."
The emperor looked at Old Master Tang and the Minister of Justice and said, "Why not ask the other serious criminals? If anyone dares to obey your order, reduce their punishment."
Old Lord Tang frowned, disagreeing with this reward rule. He said, "Your Majesty, those sentenced to serious crimes are undoubtedly extremely vicious. If we release them, it will be a great harm to the people and it will also be unfair to the victims."
Therefore, he always opposed proposals such as the emperor should grant amnesty to the whole country if he did good deeds.
Wei Zhi also thought so and expressed his opposition.
The emperor said, "If you want to use someone's life for an experiment, you can't just give them no benefits at all. Who would be willing to do that?"
"But we cannot let them go just because of this. If they go out and harm their neighbors again, who will those who suffer and endure the punishment turn to for justice? The law is the law, and it cannot be changed."
The emperor was a little angry. "If the vaccination method can really be tested, it will be a great achievement for generations to come. Are we going to give up on it just because of this?"
Seeing that they were about to quarrel, Manbao said quickly, "Your Majesty, when there is great profit, there will always be brave men. But when there is great gift, it doesn't mean that we have to let them go. We can give them other benefits."
She said, "I think the food in the prison is terrible. You can tell them that if they sign up, the prison will provide them with three meals a day for 10 to 20 years, with fish, meat, and eggs for every meal. If they are exiled, they will be transferred from 2,000 miles to 1,000 miles, and they will be given some money. Oh, and how about giving them money beforehand? That way, it's up to them whether they want to use the money to atone for their sins or to eat and drink."
The emperor immediately said, "Yes, this is a good idea."
Old Master Tang and Wei Zhi fell silent, looking at the Minister of Justice. The Minister of Justice stroked his chin and said, "It's not impossible, but how much is the appropriate amount?"
As he spoke, he glanced at Minister Liu and said, "Our Ministry of Justice's budget this year is already small. If we promise it with huge profits, we will have to get funding from the Ministry of Revenue."
Minister Liu of the Ministry of Revenue did not expect that the fire would spread to him. Wasn’t he here just to listen?
Hearing the Minister of Justice say this, he couldn't help but say, "The national treasury can't lay golden eggs on its own. Last year was already difficult, and this year all the ministries are asking for money, and there are still holes in last year's debts that need to be filled. How can there be any extra money?"
The Minister of Justice said, "If even the Ministry of Revenue can't come up with the money, then our Ministry of Justice will be even less able to do so."
Old Master Tang helped the Minister of Justice, "We have to give some money, otherwise what if we really let them go? If they commit crimes again, the Ministry of Justice will have to arrest them again, and it will cost a lot of money."
Officials from the Ministry of Justice also receive money when they travel on business, and that is included in their salary, and the Ministry of Revenue also needs to pay for it.
Minister Liu glanced at the three people from the Imperial Hospital and snorted, "One hundred taels at most, no more."
So stingy!
However, Manbao and the other two calculated in their minds how many prisoners the one hundred taels would be enough to hire. If a person does not get sick and needs to eat and drink well for a month, not to mention having meat every meal, but only eating one meal every other day, that would cost about five hundred wen, which is about five taels a year. Even if they only counted ten years of food, that would still cost fifty taels. Wouldn't that mean they would only be able to hire two prisoners?
No, no, this is definitely not enough.
She and Dr. Lu, the director of the Xiao Academy, had calculated privately that the second test would require at least twelve patients, four people in each age group, and one type of pox scab would have to be inoculated on two people of the same age group at the same time, so that the test data could be compared.
In fact, it is still too small. If there are enough people, it should be expanded tenfold.
However, they felt that even in the Ministry of Justice prison, they probably couldn't find so many serious criminals willing to take part in this experiment.
But asking the Ministry of Revenue to pay 600 taels seemed a bit difficult, so Manbao said, "One hundred taels is too little, at least one thousand taels."
When Minister Liu saw that she increased the price tenfold, he couldn't help but choke. Although in the court, everyone always asked for a high price and paid it back on the spot, no one would ask for more than ten times the price right away.
Manbao did the math for him. In order to get the prisoners to willingly participate in their experiments, they had to provide them with food for at least ten years, right?
So the two of them talked about the current prices.
The emperor and his ministers watched the two men go back and forth. They had already mentioned that vegetables were six coins per catty today. The other man said, "That's because it's spring now, and vegetables are scarce. Look at summer and autumn, the most a catty costs is two coins."
See you at 6pm
(End of this chapter)
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