Chapter 2466 Bill
Seeing they were about to start arguing, Manbao quickly changed the subject and said, "Fourth brother, when are you free to go with me to get vaccinated? Well, Lixue and the others should also ask for leave, and we can go to the imperial farm together to get vaccinated."
Old Zhoutou, "Can't we grow it at home? Why do we have to go to the imperial farm?"
Man Bao said, "It's safer over there, and there's a ready-made place. I'll discuss it with Xiao Yuanzheng later to see if there are any other expenses."
There is no charge, at least not for now. Xiao Yuanzheng is hoping that more and more people will come for vaccination. He has made a statistics at the Imperial Hospital, and basically all the children in the family who are over eight years old and under sixteen years old have come.
If the ministers in the court have any doubts, the attitude of their Imperial Medical Bureau is a guarantee.
Someone from Xiao Yuanzheng's family also attended, and Xiao Yuanzheng's six-year-old grandson was also sent in. Doctor Lu also wanted to send someone in, but he only had a little granddaughter who was too young, so he was reluctant to send her in, and finally chose his youngest son to send in.
Therefore, before the smallpox vaccine was widely promoted, the families of the imperial physicians in the Imperial Medical Bureau were vaccinated first, and Zhou Man's family was the most affected.
Facing the gazes of his colleagues, Manbao spread his hands helplessly and said, "I can't help it. I have a big family."
The six youngest ones, including Zhou Lizhong, all came to get vaccinated, but Zhou Silang was the only one of the same generation as Manbao who came.
Others rarely travel far, so they don't have to be vaccinated.
However, Xiang Mingxue and Zhou Lijun have also come. They often go out, especially to the grassland, so they also have to be very careful.
A group of people moved into the imperial farm, and Manbao and Doctor Lu were locked up in the farm again.
This time, because all those involved were officials' families, and there were quite a few of them, even the emperor became concerned and asked about it every day, fearing that some of them would be sacrificed in the line of duty.
Fortunately, there were so many imperial doctors watching over the situation, the smallpox vaccine had been tested countless times, and the prescriptions had all been improved, so there were no accidents. At most, three people had a high fever for a while, but the amount of pox was not large, and it would be gone in one night or one day.
So all the officials and their families were able to leave smoothly after living in the imperial farm for half a month. When the emperor saw this, he became restless again and wanted to have himself vaccinated.
Then, after being persuaded to go back by court officials, the prince expressed his willingness to get vaccinated on behalf of the emperor.
However, he was still persuaded by the court officials.
The prince is not young anymore. According to the data provided by the Imperial Medical Bureau, the risk of vaccination for adults is greater than that for younger people, so the prince should not take this risk.
However, the emperor and the crown prince could not be vaccinated, but the court officials also saw the benefits of vaccination. If they were vaccinated once, smallpox and other diseases could be eliminated in the future, it would be a great improvement to the life safety of their descendants.
So many court officials thought about it and planned to select all the children under the age of sixteen from their families and send them to the imperial farm to be vaccinated against cowpox.
The emperor was very pleased with the result and did not insist on the vaccination. Instead, he called Xiao Yuanzheng and said, "Since so many officials and their families want to come to the imperial farm for vaccination, you, the Imperial Hospital, should treat them well and come up with a set of regulations."
Xiao Yuanzheng agreed and immediately gathered all the staff of the Imperial Hospital. "Your Majesty's intention is to start with the families of officials above the third rank and work our way down. Of course, it's all voluntary. You must also carefully screen those who are unfit for vaccination. Don't be careless. If anything goes wrong, all our efforts will be wasted."
Xiao Yuanzheng discussed with everyone to buy some new bedding for the imperial farm, and to separate men and women.
These officials' wives naturally include both male and female officials, all of whom are wives of officials of the third rank or above, or children of nobles. If something goes wrong due to improper management, what will happen if someone smashes up their Imperial Hospital?
Don't think they don't dare. These ministers, especially the nobles, have very bad tempers, and Xiao Yuanzheng doesn't want to provoke them.
As the most educated, smartest and youngest among them, Manbao had to use an abacus to calculate the money from the things they listed.
As he calculated, Manbao felt heartbroken. He wrote down the total and gave it to Xiao Yuanzheng, asking, "Is it free too?"
Xiao Yuan was surprised, "So expensive?"
Manbao: "You said that all the bedding needs to be changed. Each bed needs a small table, and each room needs a cabinet. I calculated it according to the purchase price above, and it's the cheapest."
Xiao Yuanzheng was also heartbroken. After thinking for a moment, he said, "I'll go find His Majesty."
The emperor looked at the bill in silence.
Xiao Yuanzheng stood below with his hands clasped and his head bowed, whispering, "Your Majesty, this only accounts for the additional items that need to be purchased. The cowpox and medicinal materials needed for vaccination have not yet been taken into account, nor has the half-month food and lodging for each group of people been calculated."
Emperor: "...I remember that the families of officials in your Imperial Hospital are provided with free accommodation."
"Yes, but since our family members are all family, we were a bit casual. We didn't buy anything new at the time, and the food was simple. We used a total of thirteen sets of medicinal herbs..."
What I mean is, although they are free, they cost less and their significance is different. If they had not tried it first by setting an example, would people dare to get vaccinated?
The emperor also thought it made sense, so he waved his hand and said, "Then collect the money from them. Hmm, one person collects..."
The emperor looked at the total amount above, calculated it, and said, "I'll just charge one tael of silver per person. That's not too much, is it?"
Xiao Yuanzheng immediately said: "It's not much. If it were me, I would be very willing to pay this money."
The emperor was relieved and waved his hand to let Xiao Yuanzheng go.
Dean Xiao took the emperor's edict back to the Imperial Hospital.
When asked to collect money, Doctor Liu frowned and said, "I'm afraid they won't be willing."
Doctor Lu also said, "We didn't pay the money at that time. If we ask them to pay now, I'm afraid the court officials will have objections."
Manbao thought for a moment and said, "Why don't we make a list for them? This is for their own good. If they don't need to buy anything, we can do it for free."
Xiao Yuanzheng glanced at her and asked, "Do you think the grandchildren of Duke Zhao and Duke Su would be willing to sleep on a bed that has already been used by someone else?"
Manbao rolled his eyes and said, "Then I'll make a list for them."
Once Manbao made a list, the amount would not be limited to one or two taels, but it didn't matter. Manbao said that the extra amount would be subsidized by the emperor and the Imperial Medical Bureau.
Xiao Yuanzheng was stunned when he saw the two prescriptions with the herbs listed above. He couldn't help but ask, "Not everyone can use medicine, right?"
"Not everyone can get through this without taking any medicine," Manbao said. "We prepared ahead of time, and that shows our dedication. But since we've prepared, it's naturally included in the expenses. I don't know if the adults understand, but the ladies in the inner court will definitely understand."
She remembered that Grandmother Liu had said that when preparing things for entertaining guests in the inner house, one should not be too much, but too little, so they prepared what they might need in advance, believing that the ladies would support it.
As for the bill, I will tell the senior officials in the court, but it still needs to be sent to the mansions of various governments. Isn’t it the madam who pays the money?
See you at 6pm
(End of this chapter)
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