Chapter 26: Establishing a School, Must Establish a School

History cannot be hypothesized, for it is meaningless.

This was probably the foundation of Chen Xie's code of conduct in the Ming Dynasty. Comrade Doctor Short Hair did not position himself as a savior of the Ming Dynasty. His positioning was simple: he and the people he cared about must be safe.

The problem was that Chen Xie had not yet figured out one thing: in the Ming Dynasty, to protect his own property and the people he cared about, the result of this path was inevitable. It was just that Chen Xie had not yet realized it.

The shadows of swords and spears in the imperial court were still far from Dengzhou. After a brief training, Chen Xie's thoughts shifted to the hospital. The joint business was now solely managed by Liu Dazhang, and Chen Xie had learned to be a hands-off boss. There were so many things that one person could not handle them all. Chen Xie would come up with a plan, and Liu Dazhang would be responsible for its implementation. As Chen Xie emphasized to Zhou Shi, the most important thing for a business was its system. As long as the system was perfected, even if a new batch of people came in, they could quickly get up to speed.

The news that Doctor Short Hair had opened a hospital in Zhangjia Village spread quickly. The people in Dengzhou City were very puzzled as to why the hospital was opened forty miles away in Zhangjia Village. Despite their confusion, the wealthy families in the city were very pleased. In the past, if you were sick and wanted to see a famous doctor, you had to be lucky enough to meet one.

For example, that Mr. Qian, who was now boasting in Huichun Hall: "That day, I was really lucky. I happened to meet the famous doctor at Huichun Hall, and he gave me a bottle of medicine without even asking for money. At the time, I didn't think it was a big deal. Last night, while I was having a good time, my heart pain suddenly flared up. I almost couldn't catch my breath. Fortunately, I had already instructed the maid to keep the medicine bottle by the bedside. She brought it over, and I took a handful. In less than a moment, my life was saved."

Liu Gaoming, who was seeing patients, looked at Mr. Qian with displeasure and coughed, saying, "Quiet down, don't you see where you are?"

Since Chen Xie joined, Huichun Hall's business had become extremely prosperous. Liu Gaoming was too busy, and even with Yu Lian's help, they were still overwhelmed. Liu Gaoming was thinking about whether to mention to Chen Xie that they should hire a few more doctors. Chen Xie could train them for a while, and once they understood the basic medical techniques, they could start seeing patients independently.

According to Yu Lian's idea, it didn't have to be so complicated. They could just hire a few experienced doctors and offer them higher salaries. Liu Gaoming insisted on hearing Chen Xie's opinion before making a decision, to avoid damaging the famous doctor's reputation. This was a valid point, and as soon as the issue of the famous doctor's reputation was mentioned, Yu Lian immediately changed his attitude.

Huichun Hall was an old-established pharmacy, and Yu Lian was its owner. After teaming up with Chen Xie, business boomed, and he made a lot of money, so he naturally did not dare to be disrespectful to Chen Xie. Not to mention, many patients came specifically because of Doctor Short Hair. Moreover, several of the ready-made medicines in Huichun Hall were provided by Doctor Short Hair. For minor illnesses like colds and fevers, they could directly give a few colorful pills (effervescent cold capsules), saving the trouble of decocting herbal medicine, and making money quickly.

Just as Yu Lian was thinking about Chen Xie, Doctor Short Hair walked in. Liu Gaoming did not get up, continuing to see patients. It wasn't that he was disrespectful to Chen Xie; it was a rule Chen Xie had set that the patient was the most important when a doctor was seeing patients. Yu Lian, however, had no such rule and quickly stood up to greet Chen Xie. Mr. Qian, seeing Chen Xie, also hurried over.

"Doctor, Doctor! If it weren't for your pills, I would have been dead." Despite his obesity, Mr. Qian was surprisingly agile, appearing in front of Chen Xie in a flash and bowing.

"Ah, it's Mr. Qian. What's wrong? I warned you to do less of that. You're so fat, you must have some cardiovascular issues. This time, you were lucky to have the medicine when your heart pain flared up. Next time, who knows?"

Chen Xie smiled, thinking this guy was a living advertisement and needed to be treated politely.

Mr. Qian felt honored to be able to speak to Doctor Short Hair. He smiled obsequiously and said, "Doctor, could you take a look? How can I cure my condition?"

Chen Xie looked Mr. Qian up and down, a man not even 1.65 meters tall but weighing 200 pounds, and shook his head. "To cure your condition, there's only one way: lose the fat. Otherwise, even a god can't help you."

Mr. Qian looked at his own fat body and showed a pained expression. Being fat was not common in the Ming Dynasty and was even a symbol of status. Now, Chen Xie was telling him bluntly that if he continued being fat, his happy life would have no future. This was a heavy blow.

Mr. Qian sighed and left. Chen Xie then spoke to Yu Lian.

"Doctor, you came at the right time. Business has been so good lately that Doctor Liu and my son can't keep up."

Chen Xie smiled. "I came for this very reason. The hospital in Zhangjia Village also needs doctors, and I'm also worried about that."

Yu Lian immediately said, "I was thinking, how about this: we hire a few experienced doctors, pay them more, and you train them for a while, then they can see patients independently."

The theoretical systems of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and Western medicine were vastly different. The TCM theory of yin and yang and the five elements was completely incompatible with Chen Xie's Western medicine theory. From Chen Xie's perspective, a medical practice that had lasted for thousands of years could not be simply labeled as unscientific. For example, Liu Gaoming's medical skills were truly remarkable. Many conditions that Chen Xie could not diagnose were cured with a few doses of herbal medicine by Liu Gaoming.

TCM lacked a scientific theoretical system, but the workload was too great for Chen Xie to accomplish alone.

"Mr. Yu, here's what I suggest. Hiring a few doctors is feasible, but I can't cure every disease. I'll do my best to share the medical knowledge I have. Additionally, you can find some literate children, aged sixteen to eighteen, to study medicine at Huichun Hall. I'll teach them when I have time. Let's set the training period at three years. If they learn well, they can become doctors. If not, they can do other jobs at Huichun Hall, at least they'll have a place to eat." This was a plan Chen Xie had thought about for a long time. Changing the traditional TCM mindset was difficult, but in the Ming Dynasty, he couldn't do without TCM. The only solution was to try to combine the two. Additionally, training some apprentices for three years would likely produce a few outstanding individuals.

Yu Lian was overjoyed at this suggestion. Embracing the famous doctor's reputation would surely lead to prosperity.

Yu Lian acted quickly and posted a notice at the door within half an hour: "Doctor Short Hair seeks apprentices: Requirements, age sixteen to eighteen, literate with at least 500 characters, ... ." Chen Xie looked at it for a while, feeling a bit uncomfortable. Especially the requirement of knowing 500 characters, which was a significant challenge. In the Ming Dynasty, ordinary people might not even recognize a stick as the character 'one.' Knowing 500 characters was already in the realm of a semi-intellectual.

Previously, Chen Xie thought that making money was for enjoying life. After staying in the Ming Dynasty for a while, he had a strong urge: "Establish a school, must establish a school. And it should be a free school, providing food and lodging. It doesn't have to be too advanced, a three-year curriculum, learning a thousand or two thousand characters, enough to express oneself clearly in writing."

Chen Xie was a man of action. Once he had an idea, he acted on it. To do this, he needed to find Zhang Yao.

He confidently entered the Zhang family's residence and headed straight for Zhang Yao's study, greeted by a chorus of "Young Master Zhang is well." Zhang Yao's face was flushed, as if he had just had a lot to drink. Chen Xie knew he was excited about the recent suppression of the eunuch faction, so he was not surprised.

Seeing Chen Xie, Zhang Yao said, "What have you been up to lately? Your wife said you're not managing the business much, yet you're still so busy?" Chen Xie smiled bitterly. "Uncle Zhang, I have a lot on my plate. The hospital just opened, and I'm the only doctor. I went to Huichun Hall to discuss hiring some apprentices with Mr. Yu. When I saw his notice for recruiting apprentices, I felt really uncomfortable. ... ." Chen Xie explained his thoughts.

At first, Zhang Yao was indifferent, but as he listened, his expression became increasingly serious. Providing free literacy to ordinary people's children was no small matter. In the Ming Dynasty, scholars were highly respected, especially those with official titles, who did not have to kneel before officials. Technically, Chen Xie, being a commoner, should kneel before officials. However, officials were shrewd and would not treat a famous doctor so poorly. If they fell ill, they might not get proper treatment, which would be troublesome.

Confucianism, which was vigorously promoted by the rulers, was deeply rooted in the idea of keeping the people ignorant for easier governance. "The people can be made to follow, but not to understand." This saying's essence was not the modern interpretation of "The people can be made to follow, but not to understand." It meant that the rulers wanted the people to be a bit stupid and uneducated, making them easier to deceive and control.

Zhang Yao had a deep-seated opposition to this idea, but he also recognized that Chen Xie's actions, though unexpected, had their own logic. A person with education learns faster, which was undeniable. The question was, was Chen Xie's goal simply to train more apprentices to help him?

Chen Xie did not seem like someone who would rebel. Upon further reflection, most scholars would not turn to other pursuits before losing hope of achieving official status. These people, who had studied the Four Books and Five Classics, did not meet Chen Xie's needs, so he decided to cultivate some children himself. There were many children in the village, and if they could get a full meal and learn to read, their parents would be overjoyed to send them. The success rate of this plan was high. After dispelling his doubts, Zhang Yao nodded in agreement.

"Establishing a school is a good thing. How do you plan to do it?"

"The school will be in Zhangjia Village. My plan is that all children in the village, aged six to sixteen, regardless of gender, must attend the school to learn to read." Chen Xie proposed his idea, and Zhang Yao shook his head.