Emperor Kangxi sat upright on the dragon throne, looking down at the ministers below, who all wished they could bow their heads to the ground. Kangxi felt his liver fire flaring up.
His gloomy gaze swept over the heads below, growing angrier with each look. With a flick of his sleeve, he rose and left the morning court session.
A bunch of useless trash.
When they needed them, there wasn't a single one. The imperial court was just feeding them for nothing.
Kangxi now has several blisters in his mouth, which hurt when touched.
Three days have passed, and the imperial physicians still haven't figured out how to treat the patient.
His crown prince contracted smallpox when he was six years old, and he survived it.
Over the years, the imperial physicians of the Imperial Medical Academy still haven't figured out how to treat smallpox; all they can do is drink medicine and boil it.
His princes were all like cabbages.
Waste is all waste.
Kangxi recently felt that everyone was useless and that no one was satisfactory to him.
"Liang Jiugong, you dog slave, get in here now."
Xiao Qizi, who was standing outside the door, was covered in sweat and his legs were trembling.
"Your Majesty, the master has been punished and is currently unable to get out of bed..."
After Kangxi finished shouting, he remembered that he had found fault with Liang Jiugong, that servant, the day before, and had him dragged away and beaten with a board.
Lying on the ground, Xiao Qizi kept praying that someone would come and save him, otherwise he felt he would get a beating today.
One of them was punished for a breach of etiquette in front of the palace, and he and his master were forced to lie down side by side.
Just then, a young eunuch hurriedly walked in from outside, his face beaming with joy.
"Your Majesty, a royal physician has come to see you, saying that there has been progress in the smallpox case."
"Bring them in, all of you get out."
Those who were serving in the Hall of Mental Cultivation all bowed their heads and withdrew.
An old man with white hair and a white beard walked into the Hall of Mental Cultivation. This was Li Taiyi, the most trusted imperial physician of Emperor Kangxi.
The Crown Prince survived smallpox, and Physician Li played the biggest role in his recovery.
When Kangxi saw that it was Physician Li who had arrived, his eyes were filled with anticipation.
As expected, what Physician Li said did not disappoint him.
"Your Majesty, this humble servant has researched a way to reduce the danger of smallpox, and it has already shown some success."
Then, Physician Li explained that since the Crown Prince began treating smallpox, he had been studying the disease. Two years ago, he saw the term "cowpox" in a Western book, but before he could study it, smallpox broke out in the palace and outside the palace this year.
...
"This servant has already tested it on humans; the survival rate of cowpox is as high as 80%. As long as they are carefully cared for, they will definitely survive."
Emperor Kangxi muttered to himself.
“80%, okay, hurry up and plant it on the prince’s seed that the prince gave me. I don’t want 80%, I want 100%.”
"Imperial Physician Li, do you understand what I mean?"
Physician Li wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and nodded repeatedly.
He couldn't help but mutter to himself.
Emperors are just unreasonable creatures. If it were 100% effective, would it still be called smallpox?
Upon receiving the order, Physician Li hurried to the prince's residence to begin his work.
The smallpox experiment was successful. Most people who had contracted smallpox outside the womb had already been vaccinated with smallpox and were just waiting to get through a few days and slowly recover.
Even though smallpox was no longer very dangerous, those who were too old or too young did not survive, so there was still a mortality rate.
---
When Physician Li, who was in charge of the Prince's residence, looked at the condition of the Sixth Prince, he felt dizzy.
The Sixth Prince, who was originally a chubby, fair-skinned boy, became thin and small, pale, and his whole face was flushed red from a high fever.
Taking the pulse, Physician Li shook his head repeatedly.
According to the eunuchs who serve the Sixth Prince, he hasn't woken up much in the past few days, and they've had to force-feed him medicine; he hasn't eaten anything at all.
Even if you get vaccinated against smallpox, it won't help; your body simply doesn't have the strength to endure it.
Imperial Physician Li has just sent someone to report back to Emperor Kangxi, and we need to come up with a plan for this matter. The question now is whether or not to vaccinate against smallpox.
Vaccination with cowpox offers a glimmer of hope; otherwise, there's no chance of survival.
Although the Sixth Prince was usually well-fed and chubby, his health was not very good due to premature birth.
Physician Li heard the Sixth Prince calling out indistinctly.
"Mother, Mother, it hurts so much, it hurts so much."
The eunuchs who were serving the Sixth Prince outside the door rushed in.
"Imperial Physician Li, His Majesty has ordered you to save the Sixth Prince's life."
After hearing this, Physician Li gave a bitter smile. It wasn't that he didn't want to save the Sixth Prince's life; it was that even Heaven wouldn't allow it.
"This servant has done his best."
----
Compared to the situation of the Sixth Prince, the Fourth Prince was in a much better position.
Today, the Fourth Prince Yinzhen is fully awake, but he has a lot of white bumps and pimples on his body that are incredibly itchy, making him unable to resist scratching them.
Having just finished his porridge and medicine, the Fourth Prince was in good spirits. He was leaning against the bed, his hands clenched tightly, his eyes constantly glancing at the wardrobe opposite him.
After Duofu's protest, his sleeping place was upgraded from the hard, cold floor to a closet with clothes on it.
During the day, there are many people coming and going here. Every now and then, Taiyi comes to see a doctor. Duofu has to hide and can only sneak out for a while at night.
When Duofu came out, Su Peisheng would keep an eye out for anyone coming in, so that he could hide Duofu as quickly as possible.
After a few days, Duofu really lost weight; his once round belly and chubby buttocks shrank considerably.
When the Fourth Prince Yinzhen woke up and had some energy, he kept complaining that Duofu's touch wasn't quite right.
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