Chapter 6

New book uploaded, seeking favorites and recommendations.

"Jason, Dr. Jason, what are you thinking about?" The beautiful face of Countess Isabella leaned in, asking with concern. At this moment, Zhu Jishi realized that his hand holding the wine glass was tilted, spilling the red wine onto the dining table. He had been lost in thought for who knows how long. The countess, Dr. Blumstein, and a servant serving the meal were all looking at him curiously.

Will Heming had already left, returning to the barracks to report his injury to Major Churchill in the duel and prepare to receive punishment. Zhu Jishi and Dr. Blumstein were retained by the countess for dinner to thank them for saving Churchill's life—this solved the problem of Zhu Jishi's first dinner after his穿越, but how would he solve the problem of eating in the future?

It seemed that Ye Yiren had never mentioned how穿越ers solved the problem of eating. Compared to opposing the Qing Dynasty's Emperor Daoguang, Aisin Gioro Minning, and saving the 400 million Chinese people from their dire straits, solving the problem of eating was the most pressing issue Zhu Jishi currently faced. He wondered how the protagonists in the穿越novels that Miss Ye loved solved this problem?

Being a doctor seemed like a decent profession, but upon closer thought, it didn't seem that simple. First, he was in Britain, the glorious and prosperous British Empire of the Victorian era! Would he, an illegal immigrant from the 21st century, be caught and deported back to China, or the Qing Dynasty, by British immigration officials? The passport issued by the 21st-century Chinese government and the entry visa issued by the EU would likely be invalid in Britain in 1842, right?

Second, even if the passport and visa issues were resolved, could he practice medicine in Britain in 1842? It didn't seem that straightforward. He had neither a medical school diploma nor a medical license—although his medical knowledge was more advanced than that of the greatest medical scientists of this era, how could he prove it without a diploma?

Third, racial discrimination was a significant issue. Even in 21st-century Europe, white people still looked down on yellow-skinned Chinese people, though they didn't show it much... So even if he obtained a medical license in Britain in 1842, he doubted any patients would come to him.

But if he couldn't stay in Britain, where else could he go? Returning to China was out of the question; he didn't have a braid, and he heard that in the Qing Dynasty, not having a braid meant beheading! Moreover, his Western medical skills would probably be even less useful in China during the Daoguang era!

Should he go to America? He didn't know what the immigration requirements were like there, or if they would accept someone like him, who had fled from Europe... a Tartar?

These problems seemed difficult to solve, and thinking about them made Zhu Jishi lose focus.

Countess Isabella smiled at Zhu Jishi and suddenly blurted out three Chinese words: "Visa, passport, diploma... What do they mean? (This is in English) Which language is this?"

"T-this, this is my hometown language."

Hearing the countess speak Chinese with perfect pronunciation, Zhu Jishi was genuinely startled, thinking she had been to China and had uncovered his true identity—was the Opium War over yet? If the British caught him as a Qing Dynasty spy, he might end up on the gallows! But when she asked in English, he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Tartar language?"

"Yes, it's Tartar language. Good wine, it means good wine." Zhu Jishi smiled nervously at the countess and downed the red wine in one gulp.

"Oh, Tartar language." The countess was clearly very interested in this Tartar who could perform abdominal surgery on a living person without killing them. She continued, "Dr. Jason, where did you learn your medical skills? In Russia?"

"In Germany," Zhu Jishi replied, not specifying where in Germany, to avoid giving himself away.

"The German Confederation?" Blumstein suddenly interjected in German: "I also came to Britain from there. I graduated from the University of Heidelberg in Baden. Where did you graduate from?"

"Mannheim, I studied medicine in Mannheim." Zhu Jishi steeled himself and replied in German. In reality, he and Dr. Blumstein were alumni; the medical school in Mannheim where he studied in Germany was part of the University of Heidelberg, but it definitely didn't exist in 1842.

"Mannheim University's medical school?" Blumstein frowned but didn't press further. Although he didn't remember Mannheim University having a medical school, he had graduated from Heidelberg over forty years ago and hadn't returned to Germany since, so he wasn't familiar with Mannheim University's recent developments. However, he then asked about blood types and blood transfusions, "Dr. Jason, did you learn about blood types and blood transfusion therapy at Mannheim University?"

"I discovered it myself." Zhu Jishi had lived in 21st-century Germany for over a year and knew that Europeans respected scientists, so he didn't plan to be modest in the scientific field. "Actually, I came to Britain to publish my research results in The Lancet."

The Lancet was the most authoritative medical journal in Europe. Zhu Jishi often read it in Germany over a hundred years later and knew it had a long history, definitely existing in 1842.

"Publish in The Lancet?" Dr. Blumstein looked at Zhu Jishi for a moment and slowly nodded. "Dr. Jason, your achievements in blood types and blood transfusion therapy indeed... indeed should be shared with the global medical community through The Lancet. I believe you will be the first Oriental to win the Copley Medal and the Grand Prix of the French Academy of Sciences."

"The Copley Medal and the Grand Prix of the French Academy of Sciences? Is blood transfusion that important?" The countess also looked surprised. These two scientific awards were as prestigious in the 19th century as the Nobel Prize in later times! A scientist who won both would surely go down in history.

The countess, being an outsider, of course, didn't understand what the surgery Zhu Jishi performed on Churchill, which seemed similar to slaughtering a pig, meant.

But in the eyes of Blumstein, an insider, the little bit of surgical skill Zhu Jishi had shown would absolutely advance European medicine by a great leap! No, not a great leap, but a giant leap! Historically, it wasn't until 1852 that European doctors realized they needed to wash their hands before surgery, and it wasn't until 1886 that the issue of surgical sterilization was fully resolved. Solving the problem of blood types and blood transfusions didn't happen until the early 20th century—before that, these deranged doctors either transfused animal blood or transfused human blood without regard for blood types, resulting in the deaths of countless patients!

But in the surgery Zhu Jishi performed on Churchill this afternoon, he seemed to have overcome the two major challenges in surgery—infection and blood transfusion. If the techniques he used to treat Churchill were published in The Lancet, the fame and wealth they would bring would make every doctor of this era envious.

"Of course!" Dr. Blumstein looked at Zhu Jishi with an envious gaze and sighed, "This is probably the most important medical research achievement of the first half of the 19th century!" He paused and then asked, "Dr. Jason, may I ask, does traditional Tartar medicine also have methods for blood transfusion therapy?"

Looking at the 19th-century old doctor with a glint in his eyes, Zhu Jishi was silent for a moment and then smiled slightly, "Like many great scientists in history, I stand on the shoulders of giants."

The old doctor nodded, seemingly accepting Zhu Jishi's explanation, or perhaps confirming his own conjecture—although the British Empire had already used its powerful ships and guns to break through the closed doors of the Qing Dynasty, Westerners of this era still had a vague understanding of Eastern affairs. While they knew Western science was more advanced than Eastern science, the East had a few thousand years of brilliant civilization, and many lost civilizations might have been more advanced in some areas.