The Lucky Farmgirl

Chapter 1705 - 1680: Treasuring One’s Own Broom

Manbao ran back to Chongwen Pavilion, and Director Xiao and the others were checking the list. Seeing Zhou Man so leisurely, he couldn’t help but frown and asked her, "Doctor Zhou, have you finished the list you were responsible for?"

"Finished." Manbao pulled out the list she had completed and showed it to them.

Everyone: ...So fast, clearly the workload is the same.

Manbao pressed the list onto the table, dragged a chair over to sit next to the busy Director Xiao, and leaned her face towards him with a grin.

Director Xiao felt a chill in his heart. He was writing, but he still turned halfway around to avoid her gaze.

Manbao eagerly said, "Director Xiao, do you want me to help you write?"

Director Xiao originally wanted to pass his work off to her, but seeing her like this, he immediately shook his head, indicating he could do it himself without her help.

Manbao was a bit disappointed for a moment.

She looked around and saw that everyone was intentionally or unintentionally looking at her, so she felt this wasn’t the place to talk. She then said to Director Xiao, "Director Xiao, why don’t we go outside for a chat?"

Director Xiao, with a solemn and incorruptible face, said, "Whatever you have to say, say it here. We have nothing that can’t be said to others."

"Even so, the matter hasn’t been decided yet, and I don’t want too many people to hear," Manbao lowered her voice and whispered, "I just came back from the Empress."

Director Xiao wanted to maintain his uprightness, but he also really wanted to know what Zhou Man was up to with the Empress.

After struggling for a while, he finally sighed, put down his pen, and got up to go out with her.

So it’s really not a good thing to have a subordinate similar in age to his youngest daughter or eldest granddaughter, especially when this subordinate is quite liked by his superior, allowing her to bypass him to discuss many matters with the top brass.

He followed Manbao outside, sighed, and asked, "Speak, what’s the matter?"

Manbao then told Director Xiao about the matter she discussed with the Empress in detail, "The other day, didn’t the Ministry of Revenue refuse to approve the medicine list we submitted?"

Director Xiao: "They think it’s a waste to use such expensive medicine for student teaching, even if I said that the medicine can be reused for teaching, they still refused to buy."

Manbao: "So our Imperial Medical Bureau should have a small treasury of our own. This way, if the Ministry doesn’t approve an item, we can buy it ourselves."

Director Xiao’s eyebrows shifted, "Are you saying to get money from those noble families?"

Manbao nodded, "If they want private doctors, we can train them, as long as they pay."

Director Xiao frowned, "But in doing so, won’t our skills be spread?"

"Oh dear, at this point, are you still worried about skills spreading?" Manbao said, "Don’t forget, there are foreign doctors in the Imperial Medical Bureau too. After they learn, they’ll return to their own countries and tribes. Are you more worried about those noble family members learning our medical skills?"

Director Xiao thought about it and realized, indeed, it can’t really be stopped. At most, they could just keep the most essential skills to themselves.

Manbao kept chattering on, "... I think Teacher Mo is right. You all care too much about keeping those unique skills to yourselves. Like me, I don’t mind it."

Director Xiao lifted his eyelids and glanced at her, letting out an almost inaudible grunt.

Manbao didn’t notice and continued, "It’s like primitive people discovering fire. If the first person knew the benefits of fire and kept it to themselves without telling anyone, what use would that be? They could only wait for natural fires to keep a fire source. But if they told others, once the natural fire was out, someone figured out how to create fire using sticks..."

Director Xiao completely didn’t understand what Zhou Man was saying and could only stare blankly at her mouth opening and closing, "If the person who figured out how to create fire using sticks didn’t tell anyone, they might go their entire life with only this method. Once they died, no one would know it. Who knows how long it would take for someone else to discover the method again."

"But if they told others, the method could be passed down. Next, someone might discover a flintstone. It’s thanks to these discoveries by predecessors that we now have igniting sticks and fire starters anytime we need." Manbao finally finished this elaborate setup and then presented the conclusion, "So it’s the same with medical skills. If we can teach great disciples who are willing to learn, they’ll not only try to master the skills left by previous generations but also push beyond reaching new heights, one generation building upon another. Eventually, they’ll develop medical skills far superior to what we have today."

This was a thought she gleaned from recently learning the history of medical development with Teacher Mo. At one point, she couldn’t understand why their medical skills were so advanced in Teacher Mo’s era.

Previously, she had only studied the development and evolution history of ancient Chinese medicine. This was her first encounter with the full history of medical development, and she realized that they were too narrow-minded.

The narrow-minded Director Xiao couldn’t understand Manbao’s words, baffled, "What natural fire, what creating fire with sticks?"

Manbao: "... Haven’t you read any history books? It’s a legend that ancient humans learned to use fire because of natural fire."

Director Xiao: "... I’m not a historian. As a doctor, why should I study such ancient history? And which history book says that? I’ve never heard of it."

Manbao scratched her head. Could she have mixed up the history books from the encyclopedia with those of this world?

She would never admit it!

Manbao said, "I don’t remember, but it does exist. No, that’s not the issue. You should focus on whether what I’m saying makes sense, right?"

Director Xiao waved his hand directly, "Alright, we’re talking about money-making, not related to this topic. Are you saying we should give those noble families and dignitaries ten slots?"

Alright, Manbao had to cooperate and switch the topic, thinking about the most important issue at hand. She nodded, "Yes, and all the money earned will go to the Imperial Medical Bureau."

Director Xiao asked, "How do we collect this money?"

Manbao locked eyes with him, big eyes staring at small ones. Manbao had no experience, and of course, Director Xiao didn’t either.

The two stared at each other for a while, then Manbao made a bold statement, "A hundred taels per person per year!"

Director Xiao: "... Are you dreaming? Who would be willing to spend that much money to train a servant?"

Manbao: "Then how much do you suggest?"

Director Xiao stroked his beard, "Half, fifty taels?"

That’s still quite a bit and could buy a lot of medicinal herbs.

Manbao furrowed her brow, "How many years are they learning for?"

If it’s eight years, four hundred taels could suffice for a family of five to live comfortably for a lifetime, which seems quite substantial.

Director Xiao was also pondering, "They want female doctors. They probably want to specialize in women’s ailments, and it will mostly be taught by you, so how many years do you plan to teach?"