dognovel Chapter 158 Do you think I can't count?
Chapter 158 Do you think I can't count?
Magistrate Yang continued, "Besides preparing the prescription, I have another matter to ask Doctor Yang and Doctor Wang to think about whether they can extract the simplest method of diagnosis by observation."
Yang Qing was slightly taken aback and asked, "The simplest method of diagnosis by observation?"
Yang Shaofeng nodded and said, "For example, the pulse on the left hand represents the Qi, and the pulse on the right hand represents the blood. The cun, guan, and chi positions on the left hand represent the heart, liver, and kidneys, while the cun, guan, and chi positions on the right hand represent the lungs, spleen, and the gate of life. For example, whether the tongue coating is yellow and greasy or white and thin, whether there is more or less sweating, and whether one is afraid of cold, can help people roughly determine whether it is caused by wind-cold or damp-heat, and what medicine should be used to treat it, just by using these simple methods of observation."
Yang Qing glanced at Magistrate Yang with considerable surprise and asked, "Does Magistrate Yang also understand traditional Chinese medicine?"
Yang Shaofeng smiled and shook his head, saying, "I have only occasionally read some medical books, and I am actually completely ignorant of medical skills. The reason I thought of these things is that since there are many similarities in colds, other illnesses must also be the same."
"If Doctor Yang could refine a simpler method of observation and compile it into a book, more people could learn simple observation techniques. Even if they can't treat all diseases with the right symptoms, at least they could use Ephedra Decoction to treat wind-cold."
"If more people could learn it, for example, if one person in a village knew it, then the villagers could receive treatment after catching a cold."
At this point, Yang Shaofeng solemnly bowed to Yang Qing and said, "This is a meritorious act, and I hope that Doctor Yang will not refuse it."
Yang Qing quickly helped Yang Shaofeng up, and then she understood what had happened.
It turns out that Magistrate Yang wasn't just messing around; he was trying to create some simple prescriptions so that more people would know how to use them and thus save more patients.
Yang Qing smiled, stroked his beard, and said, "Lord Yang, as you yourself said, this is a meritorious act. Even if I were ungrateful, I would never dare to refuse such a matter. Please rest assured, Lord Yang, I will certainly live up to your expectations and compile the prescription and diagnostic techniques you require as soon as possible. However..."
Magistrate Yang was slightly taken aback and asked, "But what?"
Yang Qing frowned slightly. "However, whether it's the prescriptions recorded in books or the prescriptions we've prepared ourselves, they're all based on experience. They might be suitable for most people, or they might not be. Especially since the county magistrate requires that the dosage be exactly the same for every dose, it's even harder to know how effective the medicine is. We can't just wait until someone in the county catches a cold before trying the medicine, can we? What if we delay treatment and it turns out to be treating human life like dirt?"
Yang Shaofeng laughed heartily twice and said, "Doctor Yang, please rest assured to prepare the medicine. Once you have prepared enough medicine to test its efficacy, I will have someone find a way to test it."
Upon hearing Magistrate Yang's words, Yang Qing became very curious and pressed for an answer: "Whom does Magistrate Yang intend to have test the medicine? Putting aside everything else, there are dozens or even hundreds of medicines for treating colds. Where will Magistrate Yang find so many patients with colds?"
But upon further reflection, Yang Qing's expression turned somewhat grim: "Could it be that Magistrate Yang intends to use prisoners for experiments? If that is indeed the case, please forgive my incompetence, I dare not grant Magistrate Yang's request."
Yang Shaofeng pondered for a moment, then tentatively asked, "What if we use people of different ethnicities to test the medicine..."
Yang Qing's expression immediately brightened: "These barbarians are fearsome but not virtuous. What do I care about their lives? As long as I don't have to watch them die, Magistrate Yang can do whatever he wants with me."
Tsk tsk, this Doctor Yang is quite the conscientious person who knows the saying "a gentleman keeps away from the kitchen"!
Relieved, Yang Shaofeng bowed to Yang Qing once more and said, "I have one last thing to ask of Doctor Yang."
Yang Qing stroked his beard and said, "Please speak, Your Excellency."
Yang Shaofeng said, "Once Doctor Yang has refined the simple techniques of observation and compiled them into a book, I intend to print more copies. Secondly, I would like to invite Doctor Yang to lecture at the Confucian Temple to the students of the local school, and perhaps even take on some apprentices. I wonder..."
Yang Qing was completely numb.
I have no objection to you, Magistrate Yang, printing more medical books. But is it really a matter of giving lectures to students at the community school and taking on apprentices?
Do you think I'm illiterate?
……
"It's done!"
Magistrate Yang walked proudly down the main street of Ningyang County, feeling quite pleased with himself.
Yang Qing agreed to help organize the prescriptions, which would be the first step in standardizing traditional Chinese medicine. As for how far it could go in the future, that would be up to Yang Qing and his disciples and followers.
What truly made Magistrate Yang happy was that Yang Qing finally helped train a group of apprentices, or rather, short-term trainees.
Of course, according to Yang Qing, he does not acknowledge these apprentices as his students. No matter how well or badly these apprentices do in the future, it has nothing to do with him. He is only responsible for teaching them simple observation and pulse diagnosis, and he doesn't care about anything else.
However, for Magistrate Yang, even if Yang Qing could teach these people simple pulse diagnosis and observation, and enable them to use some simple prescriptions based on some simple symptoms, that would be enough for them to become barefoot doctors.
Or to put it another way: having a barefoot doctor and not having a barefoot doctor are two completely different concepts. In villages with barefoot doctors, the average lifespan of the people will definitely be higher than in villages without barefoot doctors.
It wasn't that barefoot doctors were so amazing, but rather that in villages without them, even a minor cold could be fatal.
After strolling around the streets of Ningyang County, Magistrate Yang suddenly pointed to a shop and instructed Limpy Five, "Brother Limpy Five, remember to have someone clean up this shop. From now on, this will be used as a pharmacy for Doctor Yang and his colleagues. Also, remember to have someone inform the people of each village and neighborhood that a public pharmacy has opened in the county town, with doctors on duty. If you have a headache or fever, remember to come to the county for treatment."
After Limpy Wu agreed, Magistrate Yang began to consider whether it was time to establish a medical insurance system.
Without medical insurance, even if people know there are doctors in the county town, they would not easily choose to go there for treatment, because seeing a doctor means spending money, especially for serious illnesses, which could potentially bankrupt an originally wealthy family.
Therefore, most people choose to tough it out when they get sick, and if they really can't tough it out, they can only wait to die.
However, having medical insurance makes a difference. Medical insurance means that the county government will cover most of the expenses for them, and the money they need to spend themselves will only account for a small percentage. This makes people more willing to go for medical treatment.
But upon further reflection, Magistrate Yang couldn't help but feel a headache coming on.
Medical insurance is easy to implement, and forcing people to participate in medical insurance is not a difficult task for Magistrate Yang. However, the population of Ningyang County will continue to grow, and more and more people will migrate from other places. Will some of them try to take advantage of medical insurance and insist on getting medicine even when they are not sick?
Can simply turning medicine into powder or granules be effective?
More importantly, it's easy to create medical insurance, but if someone takes it and modifies it into some other mess, then there will be huge problems!