Chongzhen picked up the tea and took a slow sip.
Then he looked at Qin Changyu, who is known as the hand of creation: "Mr. Qin, you are a master of pediatrics. Let me ask you, what percentage of babies and children under five years old died in Ming Dynasty?"
After listening to the emperor's question, Qin Changyu's face suddenly changed. His originally rosy face turned pale, then blue, and finally he became gloomy and silent.
"I'm here to tell you!"
Chongzhen said in a deep voice: "I sent people to the Imperial Hospital and the capital to investigate. The mortality rate for infants and children under five years old reached 25%!"
The famous doctors felt as if they were struck by lightning, and their eyes were full of disbelief.
Even though the five people in the cabinet already knew it, when they heard the number spoken by the emperor at this moment, their whole body trembled, and their eyes were full of heartache.
Emperor Shenzong had eighteen children, but only seven of them grew up. His cheap father had seventeen children, and only five of them grew up.
If the royal family is like this, how can the common people fare better?
After a while, everyone who woke up looked at Qin Changyu. Qin Changyu took a deep breath and said in a hoarse voice: "Everyone, the situation is higher than imagined.
Although I am called the hand of creation, you only see the ones who save lives, but you don’t see the times when I am helpless. "
When Qin Changyu said this, he glanced at everyone: "There are four reasons for this. First, there are few obstetricians and gynecologists and there is little research in this area.
The second is that the common people are...ignorant and always like to find people who are pretending to be gods and ghosts.
Third, Wenpo's skills are poor and she only relies on experience and lacks the most basic medical knowledge.
Fourth, the mother's nutrition cannot keep up, her body is weak, her energy and blood are insufficient, and she often loses two lives during childbirth. "
"Mr. Qin is right, but I think there is another issue with the woman's age!"
"A question about the woman's age?"
Qin Changyu frowned, thoughtfully, while the others were full of doubts.
Chongzhen continued: "Have you ever noticed that babies born in second or third births are less likely to die in infancy?
The main problem is that when a woman gets married, her body is not developed... to a very good level,
Coupled with insufficient nutrition, it will naturally not be able to provide good nutrients for the unborn child. Coupled with external factors, premature death will be high.
For the second and third babies, the mother is older, her body has developed well, and she has a good foundation, so it will naturally be better for the fetus. "
After everyone thought about it carefully, this was indeed the truth.
Looking at Chongzhen's eyes, he was very surprised. He didn't expect that the emperor would bring up this angle.
Although Sun Chengzong, Yuan Keli and others were shocked, they remained calm. The emperor showed knowledge in many aspects and understood medical things, which was considered normal.
Chongzhen looked at Zhang Jingyue again: "Zhang Aiqing, you have been in the army for several years, and you are particularly familiar with military affairs. Tell me, how high were the number of casualties and deaths among sergeants after the war?"
Zhang Jingyue also changed his expression: "If it is a war, half of them will die in summer and 30% in winter."
"What's the reason?"
"Basically, infection leads to death, and the necrotic limbs have to be cut off. This process may lead to reinfection until death.
The main reasons are that there are not enough doctors accompanying the army, lack of medicinal materials to stop bleeding and reduce inflammation, poor environment, lack of attention from the head coach, etc. "
"Although it is available, it is not complete!"
Chongzhen shook his head: "I think there is still a lack of a medicinal material or method that can reduce infection in a large area!"
After listening to the emperor's words, everyone shook their heads.
Of course they know this, but how can this kind of medicinal material be discovered as soon as it can be discovered?
Looking at the people shaking their heads, Chongzhen did not continue to ask, but looked at Wu Youxing.
"Doctor Wu, can you recite Cao Cao's "Hao Li Xing" to me?"
Wu Youxing was a little confused, but he still said: "There are righteous men in Guandong, who raise troops to fight against the evil... The armor is infested with lice, and thousands of people die, the bones are exposed in the wild, and there is no rooster crow for thousands of miles. Life..."
His voice became quieter as he recoiled, and in the end he was silent. He already understood what the emperor wanted to express.
The ministers also figured out the taste now.
"What happened?"
Wu Youxing trembled all over and said subconsciously: "Everyone has lost one thing, and the thought of it will break people's hearts."
The scene was extremely quiet, and everyone's expressions darkened.
This poem may not seem like much, but the background of its creation is relevant to everyone.
At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Three Kingdoms were divided among themselves. At the time of Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty, there were 50 million people, but by the time the Three Kingdoms were unified, there were only more than 10 million left.
Although many people died in the war, the most terrifying thing was the year-round fighting in which countless people died, triggering a plague that swept across the entire land of China.
Ten houses were empty, and not only ordinary people died, but even high-ranking officials and nobles could not escape. Five of the seven sons of Jian'an died of plague infection in the same year.
A plague kills more than ten million people. It is so tragic and terrible. This is why everyone's faces are gloomy.
After a while, Wu Youxing whispered: "Your Majesty, that plague happened under certain conditions. Now we don't..."
"Are you trying to say it's unlikely?"
Chongzhen interrupted him directly: "Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty by Taizu, there have been more than 300 plagues of various sizes and thousands of natural disasters.
I have calculated that there are six or seven disasters every year on average, and after each disaster there may be a plague, right? "
"Don't be afraid of ten thousand, just be afraid of the worst. If that kind of plague comes one day, where will the hundreds of millions of people in the Ming Dynasty go, and who can come to save them?"
The faces of everyone, who were already gloomy, became a little gloomier again.
The emperor's words are not unreasonable. Although they have some opinions on the formation of the plague, the most essential problem has not yet been found, and they do not know the ultimate containment method.
When everyone was in a state of excitement, Chongzhen focused on Li Zhongzi again.
Li Zhongzi's heart trembled when he saw Chongzhen. He hesitated for a moment and whispered: "Your Majesty, the medical skills of ordinary people are not as good as those above, but they are only familiar with various medicinal properties. This, this..."
"Doctor Li, during the plague at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, there were so many unscrupulous businessmen who took advantage of the plague to make money and counterfeit medicinal materials in large quantities.
Suppose Dr. Wu found a prescription, but did not have a large amount of medicinal materials, your role will be highlighted! "
"This, this...is really true!"
…
In the next half hour, Chongzhen asked several famous doctors several questions. Everyone who was asked had a gloomy look on their face.
If it hadn't been for decades of practicing medicine, and his 'Taoist heart' had become stable, he might have burst into tears right now and have doubts about medicine.
But everyone was full of doubts. Every problem of the emperor existed in all dynasties. There were many famous doctors, such as Sun Simiao, Zhang Zhongjing, Hua Tuo, etc., but none of them could be solved.
Although they are famous, they cannot solve these problems. Why is the emperor telling them this?
They didn't think that the emperor went to all the trouble to invite them here just to entertain them.
