Chapter 30 Xu Siyao
Princess Jiaxing gradually recovered under Xu Wangzhi's care, but after all, she had a serious illness, and even after recovering, she obviously did not have the same vigor and vitality as before.
She did not forget her promise to Zhu Yuhuan and asked for a reward for Xu Wangzhi early on. Empress Dowager Zhang was also very generous to Xu Wangzhi, the hero who saved her daughter. Not only did she give him gold and silver jewelry, but she also gave Xu Wangzhi the title of "Si Yao", a female official of the sixth rank.
After all, Xu Wangzhi was not working in the inner court, so such an honorary title was already an extraordinary favor.
Seeing this, Hu Shanxiang also proposed to Empress Dowager Zhang that Xu Wangzhi and his mother Chen open a female medical school among the people, recruiting girls and women from the public and mainly teaching them medical skills.
The trained female doctors would first practice medicine among the common people. Then, Xu Wangzhi would evaluate them according to their age, and the best ones would be assigned to various princesses' palaces. They would be rotated around on a daily basis, allowing them to see more cases and avoid the situation where the imperial physicians in the Imperial Hospital were unable to diagnose or prescribe certain illnesses. If the imperial concubines in the palace had any health problems, they could also come to the palace to see them at any time.
Empress Dowager Zhang was not a revolutionary person, but after experiencing the incident in which her daughter almost died of an acute illness, she naturally agreed immediately and wanted Xu Wangzhi to train more than a dozen highly skilled female doctors overnight to accompany Princess Jiaxing day and night.
The Xu Family Clinic, which had been somewhat deserted, suddenly became much busier, with people almost stepping out to get in.
What makes these families hesitant is that their daughters may enter the palace. Once in the palace, they don't know when they can come out. Even if they have more glory and more rewards, it is not a good future for some relatively wealthy families, not to mention that professions like doctors have always been looked down upon.
But now with the initiatives of the Grand Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager, and the ready-made example of Xu Wangzhi who could serve outside the palace, not to mention ordinary families, even the daughters of officials would be tempted.
Not only can you be highly honored, but you can also have freedom of movement and have contact with the princesses.
If she could gain the favor of people who have close ties with the royal family, like the Grand Princess of Jiaxing and the Grand Princess of Shunde, why would she worry about not being able to bring honor to her family as a woman in the future?
Unexpectedly, in the face of this sudden "change", no one in the Censorate spoke out, which can be described as "novel".
Although the Censorate did not reach the point where everything had to be reported to the emperor, it was indeed surprising that no censors spoke out when so many women were allowed to "show their faces in public."
However, this matter was raised by the two most noble women in the Ming Dynasty, and the young emperor did not say anything. After experiencing An Jing being executed and Li Yi nearly being killed, the censors all kept their tails between their legs.
More importantly, Empress Dowager Cihui had a Princess Shunde by her side. Li Yi's survival was closely related to this princess, and no one wanted to offend her.
For a time, the entire northern Zhili was swept by the trend of urging daughters to study hard, and everyone tried their best to pass Xu Wangzhi's assessment so that their daughters could attend Xu Wangzhi's school.
"A-choo! A-choo!"
Han Guilan was originally helping Zhu Yuhuan plan the school's curriculum and management methods. Seeing Zhu Yuhuan sneeze several times while sitting at the top looking at the account books, she couldn't help but ask with concern, "Your Highness, have you caught a cold these days?"
The weather was getting colder and night was coming earlier. In order to handle affairs more conveniently and not to attract other people's attention, Zhu Yuhuan often left the palace at dawn. Many officials' sedan chairs could be seen along the way.
With such hard work, coupled with snow in winter, it is inevitable to get sick.
Zhu Yuhuan didn't take it seriously. Seeing her about to stand up and go over to check on her, he waved his hand for Han Guilan to sit down and said with a smile, "It's okay, I'm fine. A while ago, Wang Zhi said I was so healthy that I could fly... It must be because too many people have been thinking about me lately."
Han Guilan couldn't help but smile when she heard her teasing. She said, "Your Highness is kindhearted. He donated grain as usual this year, and the charity halls are giving out porridge and charity everywhere. There are many people who are grateful for your kindness."
Zhu Yuhuan smiled and asked, "How is the curriculum for the library going?"
Han Guilan had already written half of it. Upon hearing this, she immediately handed it to Zhu Yuhuan for review. Seeing Zhu Yuhuan reading it carefully, she couldn't help but feel uneasy. She couldn't help but ask, "Your Highness, is this arrangement correct...?"
Han Guilan had never hired a teacher at home before. She followed her sister to her brother's study to learn to read and write, so naturally she had never attended classes. However, Zhu Yuhuan handed this matter over to her. Han Guilan asked Huai En about the courses in the inner study hall and the regulations of the school in the imperial manor. Then she wrote it down.
However, this was the first time Han Guilan had done such a big thing on her own, so she was inevitably a little unsure.
More importantly, this school was originally intended to allow these women to learn pharmacology together with Xu Wangzhi, become qualified female doctors, and be employed by the royal family. Apart from the simplest reading and literacy, the main courses should be medicine.
Neishutang and Zhu Yuhuan had only one goal, which was to make these students become qualified talents who were well-versed in poetry and literature. Naturally, they would not just arrange for them to learn some medical skills, so Han Guilan was uneasy about the content of the course.
Seeing her apprehensiveness, Zhu Yuhuan smiled and said, "Don't worry. Even though Wangzhi doesn't like to sing and dance, she has studied seriously in a girls' school. She may not know everything by heart, but she is well versed in the teachings of the sages. Studying medicine requires more than just knowing a few words. Naturally, you need to read other books as well."
Seeing Han Guilan relaxed, Zhu Yuhuan continued, "There's still a lot of time ahead. I can't do everything myself. In the past, I only had a few things to do, so I didn't have much to share with you. So I usually made the decisions and then took you along to carry them out. Now that there are more and more things to do, it's time for you to do something yourself, isn't it?"
Han Guilan met her gentle gaze and nodded as if she had taken a reassurance pill.
"As for whether what you wrote will come true, there's no need to worry." Zhu Yuhuan handed the thick stack of paper back to Han Guilan and said with a smile, "There's no difference between the palace and the outside world. Not all the eunuchs in the inner library were literate before entering the palace, but they were all able to read. This is what we are doing now, except that the students are women instead of eunuchs. Guilan, you must not only believe in yourself, but also believe in them."
Han Guilan already understood what Zhu Yuhuan meant and said solemnly, "Guilan understands."
Zhu Yuhuan closed the account book, raised his index finger at Han Guilan, and said, "Someone is coming."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
