Chapter 133: Vaccination Mu Xue played with Little Princess for a long time, until Little Princess...
Muxue played with the little princess for a long time, until the little princess got tired and asked the nanny to take her away to rest.
Muxue was in a good mood. After washing, changing her clothes, eating some milk cakes and other snacks, she called her men in to take care of things.
It had been a while since she left the Princess's Mansion to inspect the Mobei Post Road. She had accumulated some business matters in Guihua City and the capital, so it was a good opportunity to listen to their reports first. After these trivial matters were properly handled, she could prepare for the reception with all her heart.
Madam Wu, Madam Zhao, eunuch Guanzhuang, the manager of Dashengkui and the manager of Rong'an Pawnshop in the capital went into the East Pavilion one after another to deal with matters.
The person who came from the Fan family was another steward. Zhou Qiniang and Fan Yuqi were not there. Fan Yuqi was usually in Beijing and Jiangnan to deal with copper and other matters, so it was not surprising that he was not there. Zhou Qiniang was often in Guihua and visited the princess's mansion. She had to take care of the school affairs and report the business situation of Fan's business and the princess. Today, no one came to pay respects.
Mu Xue was a little surprised and asked, "Isn't your wife naturalized?"
The Fan family steward nodded and said, "In reply to the princess, the madam took the young master back to her hometown during the New Year holidays. Who would have thought that before the holidays, the young master was pregnant. The madam is still guarding the young master."
"Jianxi" is a euphemism for smallpox. In the early Qing Dynasty, smallpox was very serious, and many young children died of the disease. Even the royal family in the Forbidden City was not immune to it. For example, the current Emperor Kangxi had smallpox in his childhood. Muxue was also suffering from smallpox when she came here. Now there are two shallow acne marks on her right cheek, but it's not a big deal.
When Mu Xue heard that Zhou Qiniang's son had smallpox, she frowned and asked, "Are they in danger?"
"Thanks to your great blessing, I am fine. I received a letter a few days ago. The doctor prescribed some medicine and it has controlled the condition. I just need to rest. Because I don't want to offend you, I am not fully recovered yet, so I dare not come here to pay my respects to you without permission."
After all, there was a young princess in the princess's mansion. Zhou Qiniang would never dare to come to the princess's mansion before the child was completely healed and stable. If the disease was passed on to the little princess, it would be a huge sin.
Mu Xue heard what the Fan family steward said, and her mind was clear as a mirror. She said a few perfunctory words and sent him away.
After taking care of the trivial matters, she went to the little princess's room and sat for a while, watching her sleep.
Little Princess's eyelashes were long and thick, like a small fan. Her face shape was exactly the same as Mu Xue's, but because she was young, she had a little baby fat, and her chubby face looked very cute.
Mu Xue looked at her daughter tenderly, thinking of her appearance when she was just born, a red and wrinkled ball. When she went to see the little princess, she saw that she was sleeping peacefully, but Mu Xue would occasionally do some silly things, such as putting her fingers close to the child to feel the child's breath. Only when the fingertips felt the moist breath could she feel at ease.
There were many cases of children dying in infancy these days, even among the princes and princesses in the Forbidden City, many could not survive. Therefore, Mu Xue did not dare to take it lightly.
After watching the little princess sleeping for a while, Muxue tiptoed back to the outer room.
Madam Wu and Madam Zhao had been following her since just now, and they naturally understood what the princess was worried about. They sorted out the situation of Jianxi in their minds and waited for the princess to ask.
As expected - "The little princess is still young, what if she gets pregnant?"
Madam Wu stepped forward and said, "I have cleared a room beside the Buddhist temple and enshrined the Queen Mother of Smallpox. The Queen Mother of Smallpox will surely bless the little princess to live a long life and turn misfortune into good fortune."
"Well, that's good. I wonder if there are any other preventive measures?" Mu Xue said, "I seem to remember that when I was in the palace, I heard about Khan Ama's 'vaccination'."
"Yes, it happened." Mother Zhao recalled, "It was probably around the 20th or 30th year of Emperor Kangxi's reign. At that time, an imperial physician proposed a method of vaccination, and he even found dozens of palace maids in the palace to try it out."
When Mu Xue heard this, she leaned forward slightly and asked with concern, "What is the vaccination method? Was it successful? Were there any casualties?"
Mother Zhao thought and said, "It was successful, but it seems that several palace maids did not make it. Qiuhua and Doctor Zhang may know the details better."
So Qiuhua and Doctor Zhang were summoned immediately to inquire about the vaccination in detail.
It turned out that at this time, the imperial physician had proposed the "human pox method", which was to collect the scabs of patients who were infected with smallpox and were about to recover, add musk, wrap them in a small piece of cotton cloth, and stuff them into the nostrils of children. After a while, the child would have a fever and develop pox.
"This vaccination recipe is very effective. His Majesty has ordered that the next born princes and princesses be vaccinated on an auspicious day and time." Qiuhua said, "Our little princess is three years old now, so this age is suitable for vaccination."
Mu Xue pursed her lips and said, "But, it seems that some people still can't survive this vaccination recipe."
"One or two out of ten is inevitable. Compared to the aggressive smallpox infection, vaccination is less harmful. Otherwise, His Majesty would not have allowed the young princes and princesses to be vaccinated. I heard that the young sons of the princes in the southern part of the desert were also vaccinated, and perhaps Khalkha is no exception."
Mu Xue didn't say anything and thought quietly for a while.
To put it bluntly, it means giving children vaccinations. Not getting vaccinated is not good. Especially next year, Emperor Kangxi will come and will definitely bring many people from outside. Mu Xue will definitely bring the little princess to see the emperor and interact with the princes from the capital. With so many people, if one of them passes the disease to the little princess, it will be a big deal.
Moreover, when Emperor Kangxi met the little princess, he would most likely ask about vaccination. He advocated vaccination so much, and if he heard that the little princess had not been vaccinated yet, he might ask the accompanying imperial physician to help prepare for it. That would be passive.
Mu Xue thought for a long time.
She sat there without saying anything. Qiuhua and Doctor Zhang waited quietly with their hands down, not daring to speak without permission. Vaccination was a big deal, especially for her mother. Although the probability was small, she was afraid of a mistake. In this matter, except for the order of His Majesty, the princess could only make the decision herself.
After a long silence, the princess' voice rang out: "Vaccination is still necessary, but is it the only method to vaccinate against human pox?"
Qiuhua and Doctor Zhang looked at each other. What else is there besides smallpox vaccination? I've never heard of it.
Doctor Zhang bowed and replied, "Princess, at least so far, I have only heard of the method of vaccinating against human pox. Some specific methods of vaccinating against smallpox have been improved, such as the method of using raw seedlings and water seedlings. Compared with the original method, there are fewer casualties due to vaccinating against smallpox."
"Well, I was thinking, maybe there is a safer way?" Mu Xue hesitated for a moment and said, "Have you heard of the method of vaccinating against smallpox?"
She had just tried hard to recall whether she had heard of any knowledge on preventing smallpox in modern times. After thinking for a long time, she finally remembered that she had read some texts saying that the cowpox vaccination method was safer and that the large-scale promotion of cowpox vaccination had made a great contribution to the eradication of smallpox.
If there is a safer way to vaccinate, it would naturally be better.
"Cowpox?" Qiuhua and Doctor Zhang were the ones who remained silent. They were both smart people. When they were on the grassland, they also treated some herdsmen. They soon realized that it was herpes on cows, and its symptoms were somewhat similar to those of smallpox on humans.
Qiuhua once met a woman from a pastoral area who complained that her cow had pox and that some of it was on her hands. However, Qiuhua initially thought it was smallpox and was very worried about it. But after a closer look, she found that the rash was much milder than smallpox and was not serious, so she was relieved.
She realized what the princess meant: "Princess, you mean that maybe it would be safer to inoculate people with the cowpox vaccine?"
"Yes, but I can't say for sure. Every profession has its own expertise, and you have to consider the experiment carefully." Mu Xue said, "If you can find a more reliable method of vaccination, it would be better. If not, forget it. Generally, vaccination should be done in autumn and winter?"
"Yes, it's hard to take care of it when it's hot, so it's mostly kept when it's cold."
"Then you can take advantage of these two months to test and verify. If it doesn't work, then you should still vaccinate the little princess in the fall."
Qiuhua and Doctor Zhang got the order and took action immediately. There were large tracts of grassland outside Guihua City, and many families raised cattle. Qiuhua rode to many cattle farmers and asked them about it. He found that there were very few cases of smallpox in these families. In particular, no one who had ever had a small rash due to cattle pox had ever had smallpox.
This is a big deal.
After a long period of careful investigation, I found that cowpox is indeed much milder than smallpox. I have never heard of cowpox causing death of cows or humans.
Doctor Zhang was extremely excited and even sent a letter to the imperial physician he knew in the big hospital to tell him about this and ask them to consider the possibility of cowpox together.
But no matter how you ask about the cowpox recipe, you have to try it.
Qiuhua secretly took some pox juice from a cow infected with cowpox and pricked a little on her arm with a needle to try it. After about ten days, the rash disappeared and the symptoms were indeed mild.
After Mu Xue found out, she wanted to try it herself. Madam Wu and Madam Zhang were shocked: "The princess is of such a noble status, how can we let you try it first? We can just choose a few of our servants to try it."
"What does it matter? I have to try the new method on Sasa myself before I can feel at ease." Mu Xue said.
Doctor Zhang and Qiuhua both said, "The princess has already had pox, so this kind of cowpox probably won't work."
"I have never had smallpox. Let me try it. After I confirm that I am fine, I can vaccinate the little princess."
As the voice sounded, Dorji walked in, exhausted.
He received Mu Xue's letter and learned that His Majesty intended to come and naturalize and prepare to vaccinate the little princess, so he arrived a few days in advance. He just entered the princess's mansion and heard their discussion.
Dorji rolled up his sleeves and said, "Just plant it the way you want to plant it."
Mu Xue stood up and pulled him to sit down: "You just came back, sit down first."
"It's okay," Dorji smiled, "Since you said it's a safe method, then it must be the right one. I'm in good health anyway, so it doesn't hurt to give it a try. Just think of me as a father doing something for Nuomin."
Since he said so, Mu Xue had no choice but to agree.
To be on the safe side, Dorji first moved to the West Campus. Qiuhua and Dr. Zhang led several doctors to watch over him day and night. Perhaps because Dorji was strong, it took only eight days from the onset of the rash and slight fever to recovery.
After confirming the safety of cowpox, someone was asked to choose an auspicious day to vaccinate the little princess.
Muxue and Duoerji put aside all other matters at hand and stayed with the little princess all day, and only breathed a sigh of relief when she recovered. They freed up their hands and devoted themselves to preparing for the emperor's arrival.
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