“Can strategists not ascend the throne?”
Chapter 269: The Incident in Xuzhou
Before everything from Bingzhou even made it to Chang’an, Zhang Zhongjing was already stunned by Qiao Yan’s surprise at how the Medical Academy was divided up.
Even though the recent outbreaks and frequent military conflicts have led to a bit more respect for doctors, their status is still not that high.
In the usual ten-li radius, wandering doctors just check whatever ailments come their way and rarely specialize in certain fields.
However, when the Chiyang Medical Academy was established north of Chang’an, Qiao Yan had pushed through and completed the categorization of various departments against a lot of opposition.
Getting into specifics like an ENT department would have been over the top, so eventually, they settled on five categories: General, Women, Children, Military, and Horses, each targeting a specific group of patients.
General is basically a standard training system for village doctors, aligning with the increasingly refined contents of the ‘Emergency Prescriptions’ book.
As Qiao Yan explained to Zhang Zhongjing, this group of doctors also has a supervisory role.
When they’re practicing at their diagnostic spots, they have to keep an eye on any potential outbreaks in the area and be quick to report back.
Women’s health needs no extra explanation; it’s a branch set up specifically for gynecological issues. This department will prioritize training female doctors to avoid any embarrassment during consultations.
The materials for this department include cases of gynecological diseases collected since the establishment of the Leping medical system, and a book handed to Qiao Yan by Zhang Zhongjing called ‘Treating Women’. The future achievements here depend on the skills of these female doctors.
The need for pediatrics is easy to grasp; it’s all about dosages for children being different from adults, but not every doctor has the time for deep study in this area.
Moreover, Qiao Yan included midwives in this category as well.
Military was purely out of the need for troop support, aiming to rapidly train a batch of military doctors in assembly-line fashion.
This group of doctors must be adept at treating and bandaging external injuries and responding to common battlefield injuries like fractures while also meeting the physical standards required for military doctors.
The last one, Horses, was a bit unexpected.
When Zhang Zhongjing asked about it, Qiao Yan replied, “The health of military horses is vital; if there are military doctors for people, why not have equine doctors? You can’t expect someone who’s great at treating humans to suddenly switch to looking after horses!”
Meanwhile, Wu Pu, who was on his way to Chang’an, sneezed.
But it didn’t matter much since Qiao Yan wouldn’t be putting him in the horse department anyway.
Wu Pu glanced at the rest of the group: everyone was equipped and stocked with plenty of supplies, so everything seemed fine.
Except that… Hua Tuo wasn’t there.
This made sense.
Originally, Hua Tuo was meant to oversee the academy, but unfortunately, he couldn’t make it for the time being.
When Hua Tuo first arrived in Leping, Qiao Yan mentioned using cowpox to replace variolation for smallpox prevention.
However, Hua Tuo had been busy with the ‘Emergency Prescriptions’ until recently, and only had time to delve into it over the last six months, just when he was starting to make progress following Qiao Yan’s lead, he couldn’t be bothered to move. He simply said he’d come by for the academy’s opening.
So now we have this situation with Wu Pu leading the way.
At one point, he’d been redirected by Qiao Yan to study military first aid, but under the guidelines of Chiyang Medical Academy, Wu Pu was assigned to the General department, while Fan A, who was still in Runan treating Yuan Shu, managed the military medical affairs.
The other roles for Women, Children, and Horses would be filled later.
Both Hua Tuo and Zhang Zhongjing are named as heads of the Medical Academy, setting the stage for future specialization in internal and external medicine.
For now, there’s no rush.
Wu Pu looked into the group and spotted Qiao Zhen.
After Qiao Yan split from the Leping Qiao clan, due to Qiao Lan and Qiao Ting handling special tasks, the only one still registered under Leping Qiao clan aside from Qiao Yan was Qiao Zhen.
But Wu Pu found it a bit surprising how low-key Qiao Zhen was as a “rare species” after the split.
When Wu Pu invited her again, she didn’t hesitate to agree, officially shifting from being a Leping Academy disciple to a Medical Academy disciple.
As Wu Pu approached, he saw her holding a map of the area divisions of the Chiyang Medical Academy.
“Why are you looking at that?” Wu Pu asked.
“I was thinking about the lord’s plans; directly across the wide path from the Five Departments, there are the Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Bureau, and Training Ground for Herbalists. That makes sense, but the Isolation Ward and the Homeless Patients’ Ward behind those… the former for isolating those with major plagues, the latter for giving long-term shelter to the homeless sick…” Qiao Zhen frowned and said, “Isn’t the lord being a bit overly worried?”
Theoretically, when the military disasters of the realm weren’t this bad, the plague wouldn’t escalate to such terrifying levels.
So in light of Qiao Yan putting military action on hold to prioritize the livelihood of the three provinces, it seems unnecessary to set up formal Medical Academy-affiliated institutions like Isolation and Homeless Patients’ Wards.
Even if patient isolation was required, suitable preventive measures could have been developed under existing categories.
But Qiao Yan didn’t seem satisfied with that.
“Perhaps the lord believes that the matters of life and death that doctors shoulder must not allow for any negligence,” Wu Pu replied.
Throughout their time following Qiao Yan, they learned a skill: rationalizing the lord’s actions.
Anyway, having the Medical Academy established in Chang’an was a groundbreaking achievement for someone like Wu Pu who was delving into medicine.
He was all fired up for a career and hardly found any fault with these arrangements.
Let alone just setting up a Homeless Patients’ Ward, he’d be fine with even establishing a “Rat Chewing Beast Pavilion” here.
“Speaking of which,” Wu Pu shifted the subject, “Since the lord hasn’t appointed officials to handle the Women and Children departments yet, that’s your chance. Instead of speculating about the lord’s potential intentions, why not think about trying to secure a position? Don’t let the newly recruited doctors from Guanzhong jump the line!”
Wu Pu clearly had more faith in his own people.
Qiao Zhen was patient and meticulous, and once she accumulated enough consulting experience, she could excel in either obstetrics or pediatrics.
Encouraged by Wu Pu’s push to ignite competitive spirit, Qiao Zhen smiled, “Wu Shi, instead of worrying about this, shouldn’t you be planning how to cooperate with Dean Zhang when you meet him? That’s your most important task from the lord, right?”
Qiao Yan clearly valued Zhang Zhongjing, the renowned physician from Jing Province, and with Hua Tuo delayed due to cowpox matters, Wu Pu felt quite the pressure.
This wasn’t just a senior-junior dynamics or a matter of medical qualifications; the key was how to link Zhang Zhongjing’s knowledge of prescriptions, the medical system of Bingzhou, and the new five departments for rapid operational synergy.
Wu Pu stroked his chin, realizing this was indeed a pressing matter.
Fortunately, as a qualified physician, he didn’t have trouble communicating with others about it.
But what he didn’t expect was that when he met Zhang Zhongjing, it would be under such circumstances.
Wu Pu had learned the Five Animals Play from Hua Tuo and was in decent shape as a result.
So when various supplies from Bingzhou were being moved to Chang’an, with the Medical Academy still short on staff, it shouldn’t have been strange for him to help carry a few things, right?
That was what Wu Pu thought before he unexpectedly bumped into Zhang Zhongjing.
And now…
Zhang Zhongjing was looking at Wu Pu’s left hand, where he held a life-sized wooden puppet illustrating all the acupuncture points on the human body. Just a moment ago they were still at a distance when…
He almost thought that what Wu Pu was holding was a person.
In Wu Pu’s right hand, he was carrying something that somewhat resembled a trumpet but was clearly not.
On his right shoulder hung a bulging burlap sack, clearly stuffed with quite a few items.
This sight truly left Zhang Zhongjing quite taken aback by Wu Pu’s image.
It was hard to say which was more ridiculous: Wu Pu’s current state or Yuan Xi’s odd appearance upon returning to Ye City.
Zhang Zhongjing couldn’t help but ask, “What’s that you have?”
The two hadn’t met before, but that didn’t stop Wu Pu from guessing his identity based on Zhang Zhongjing’s aura and his presence here.
Not wanting to leave an unreliable impression on a future colleague, Wu Pu confidently held up what he was carrying and replied, “This is a model of the meridian points, used for teaching students. The lord previously asked if he needed a skinned version, but sadly there wasn’t enough time. Maybe I can try it out after coming to Chang’an.”
He then raised his right hand, “This is the medical officer’s suona, used for auscultation; the lord mentioned it still has a lot of room for improvement, but we’re missing some materials. Initially, it was made due to concerns about male physicians examining female patients, but now I guess that urgency is less.”
“Lastly, this…” Wu Pu struggled to bend his hand back toward the bulging sack and patted it, “is a uniform template for the medical academy, but we need the lord to finalize it, especially the patterns on the uniforms.”
Wu Pu continued explaining, “We have two ideas; one is to use a balance scale for weighing medicinal herbs as a symbol, implying that the physicians who leave here will never shortchange their patients and must always remember their compassionate hearts. But, you know, butchers use that too, so it might create misunderstandings.”
“The second is to represent it with an herb, for example, using cassia seeds as a pattern to show that we physicians have clear ears and eyes and never misdiagnose. But then… going by that logic, there’s more than just cassia seeds that could be chosen.”
Wu Pu sighed in exasperation.
Even though this might be a happy dilemma, it still felt like quite a hassle.
Zhang Zhongjing found it hard to come to a conclusion right away.
He replied, “How about you put everything down first before deciding?”
It sure looked like Wu Pu was straining with the current awkward posture.
From Wu Pu’s tone, Zhang Zhongjing easily deduced his identity, but knowing who Wu Pu was just made Zhang Zhongjing marvel even more—
The physician from Bingzhou was nothing like those from ordinary places.
Just as he thought this, he saw two more men coming this way, lugging hefty jars.
Upon seeing Wu Pu, they called out loudly, “Teacher, where should we put this set of internal organ models?”
Zhang Zhongjing: “…”
Now he understood what Wu Pu meant by a skinned version.
His intuition told him that this was probably just the beginning.
Wu Pu turned and signaled for his disciples to place the jars in the newly constructed Linyin of the medical academy before turning back to Zhang Zhongjing, saying, “You’re right, these things are a bit heavy. I’ll discuss it with you after I’ve set everything down.”
Initially, Wu Pu had felt somewhat uneasy about the odd way they met, but now that they had exchanged a few words, he let that discomfort slip away, deciding to just roll with it.
As long as he could accomplish the lord’s goal of establishing the Chiyang Medical Academy, that was what mattered.
Zhang Zhongjing was silent for a moment before responding with a simple, “Okay.”
While saying this, he couldn’t help but glance at the transport team behind him and casually checked his own arms, feeling as though, in some sense, he was at a disadvantage.
But who could say this wasn’t a successful and harmonious meeting of northern and southern physicians?
The next day, when Qiao Yan came to inspect the medical academy, Zhang Zhongjing and Wu Pu were already directing the construction workers to meticulously divide the areas of the site.
In June, the establishment of the Guanzhong Medical Academy and the art academy was bustling, while agricultural water management projects never faltered. Those noble families who received the soy sauce recipe began their production process.
Also in this June, Yuan Shao began experimenting with shoes for his cavalry, judging from his subordinate’s assessments, trying to breed mules by mixing the horses sent from Youzhou to Ye City with some Qingzhou war horses, while also allocating some manpower to delve into garlic, high-proof liquor, and soy sauce.
In some sense, Yuan Shao’s situation could also be called a lively scene.
Whether it was the right direction or not, that was another question.
But some areas were notably quiet.
And this certainly wasn’t referring to Cao Cao’s Yanzhou.
The construction of the new road to Chang’an and a string of exhibitions didn’t only provoke Yuan Shao but Cao Cao as well.
He thought to himself, he couldn’t return with Cao Pi one day and not even answer a question from his son. Additionally, he vaguely felt that Qiao Yan’s preemptive strategizing was not for naught, so he continued to solidify his power within Yanzhou.
It seemed he was merely appearing inactive.
And it wasn’t about Liu Biao’s Jing Province either.
Even though Liu Biao sent his eldest son to Chang’an and maintained a reasonably decent face with the imperial court, he really should be breathing a sigh of relief now.
However, Sun Ce of Jiangdong was steadily growing stronger, much like a ferocious beast that could pounce on him at any moment, making it difficult for Liu Biao not to feel a sense of crisis.
Whether the court’s deterrent power could suppress Sun Ce’s desire for revenge for his father’s murder was hard to say in the far reaches from the emperor.
So Liu Biao expanded his naval forces this year to prevent Sun Ce from deciding to storm westward after successfully capturing Kuaiji County.
It could be said that beneath the calm façade, undercurrents were stirring.
The truly quiet place was Xuzhou.
Back when Yuan Shao refused to grant Yuan Shu the governor title, causing a rift between the brothers, Tao Qian transitioned from Xuzhou’s governor to its current governor.
Under his command, the Taishan bandits, the local noble families, and the Buddhist believers had eradicated all external threats within Xuzhou.
Logically, he should be either further improving internal livelihoods or showcasing a proactive stance in external relations.
But Tao Qian did neither.
He was already over sixty.
At this age in politics, he couldn’t be considered old, just like Lu Zhi and Zhao Qi who were still robust, but compared to figures like Qiao Yan, Cao Cao, Yuan Shao, and Sun Ce, he was indeed getting on in years.
Moreover, Tao Qian did not have an heir capable of inheriting Xuzhou’s power.
He looked over Xuzhou.
Ever since he recommended Chen Deng from Xia Pi as the officer in charge of agriculture, Chen Deng had been managing land reclamation, water conservancy projects, and thanks to the season’s favor, achieved a bumper harvest of rice.
Currently, Ze Rong, based in Guangling, rallied Buddhist believers to build stupa temples, turning roaming bandits into laborers, creating a thriving scene.
The people he appointed, like Lu Su, Zhao Yu, and Wang Lang, were all competent in governance, ensuring that Xuzhou faced no discontent for years.
He then looked beyond Xuzhou.
The northern Yuan Shao was keeping an eye on Gongsun Zan and Qiao Yan’s movements, but it seemed completely unaware of what he was doing.
Sun Ce to the south was gearing up to head south; any other actions from him would only likely be towards Liu Biao and had nothing to do with Tao Qian.
In any case, whether within Xuzhou or outside, Tao Qian was completely secure.
He was also getting old, so why couldn’t he take a break and wait for the outcomes between Chang’an and Ye City’s courts?
After all, he had done enough to earn the title of governor of Xuzhou.
But what he didn’t know was that amidst this comfortable tranquility, there was an unrestful voice.
The voice’s owner said to a subordinate, “Tell me, can I replace that old Tao Qian?”
