The Lucky Farmgirl

Chapter 1706 - 1681: Bargaining (January Monthly Ticket Bonus 10)

Manbao immediately said, "I can’t do it alone. Director Xiao, patients might feel embarrassed facing male doctors, but why should female medical students feel embarrassed? Just teach boldly and confidently. A teacher of mine once said, ’Doctors have no gender.’

Director Xiao glanced at her without saying a word, turned and left.

Manbao immediately chased after him, "We haven’t finalized things yet, how can you just leave?"

"It’s already decided. The price isn’t something we can determine by ourselves. Let’s first discuss a rough idea. Tomorrow I’ll request an audience with the Empress and discuss this matter further."

Manbao followed him closely and said, "Director Xiao, can we discuss another matter?"

Director Xiao stopped, "What other matter is there?"

Manbao sighed and said, "Can you leave a spot for the Li Family from Yongzhou?"

"Oh, was the Li Family from Yongzhou the one who wanted to go through your backdoor?"

Manbao: ... Being too simple-minded isn’t good, being too clever isn’t good either.

Director Xiao understood and waved his hand, "I don’t mind. Anyway, the money is the same, giving it to one family is like giving it to another."

And then he walked away with his hands behind his back.

Manbao scratched her head and figured there was nothing left for her at the Chongwen Pavilion, so she turned to go back to her room. After walking about ten steps, Director Xiao remembered something and called out to her, "Weren’t you going to help me? Perfect timing. I need to discuss this matter with Lord Yang first. Go back and help me write out the list."

Manbao: ...

Now Director Xiao truly walked away with his hands behind his back, but he couldn’t help but think about what Zhou Man said regarding the idea of sparking fire. He sighed, regardless of whether the sky fire, fire by friction, and so on, are real, the reasoning is somewhat sound.

But how many people in this world can understand it?

Manbao passively took on the work and could only silently return to the Chongwen Pavilion.

Director Xiao and Manbao lacked experience and couldn’t understand the thoughts of those noble families, but Yang Heshu could.

He himself was from an aristocratic family, and when it came to spending money for the Imperial Hospital to train a female physician for his family, he just thought for a bit and said, "Just report a hundred taels. If they’re unwilling, they’ll naturally haggle over the price."

Director Xiao didn’t expect Yang Heshu to be bolder in setting a price than them. Speaking of which, a hundred taels a year, do aristocratic families really have the willingness to spend so much money?

Even the better academies charge at most fifty taels a year for tuition fees, and regular academies generally charge around five taels, right?

They were simply a medical training branch, charging such high fees was impossible, but the very next day, once Director Xiao proposed a price, he was rebuffed by the noble ladies coming to pay respects to the Empress.

A hundred taels a year, did they think they were fools throwing money away?

The ladies exchanged glances and directly halved the amount, fifty taels a year. Was the Imperial Hospital trying to fleece them with such high charges?

Director Xiao wasn’t a pushover though. Initially, he was flustered and red-faced from their rebukes, but not being able to get a word in, he gradually calmed down.

Then he thought for a moment and said, "Ladies, as far as I know, each time State Doctor Zhou is invited for a house call, the fee is no less than five taels per visit. This yearly charge of a hundred taels seems high, but divided among shorter intervals, it’s not much."

"The trained doctor will become the family’s personal physician, and there will be many decades ahead after five or eight years."

Yet the noble ladies weren’t easily fooled and calculated in front of the Empress and Director Xiao, "We don’t just hire people without paying. Even if this female doctor only serves the family, her monthly salary won’t be low, not to mention her medical skills might not match State Doctor Zhou’s."

"Exactly, after five or eight years, how much of State Doctor Zhou’s caliber will she possess? We want a female doctor at home for convenience, but in case of serious illness, don’t we still need the Imperial Hospital’s doctors?"

So it was impossible for the Imperial Hospital to treat them as fools, and naturally, since they were appealing to the Empress, they wouldn’t easily settle either.

Thus, everyone engaged in a back-and-forth negotiation, and the noble ladies started caring about how the courses would be taught, and what would be taught.

Director Xiao directly said, "Each class will add another spot, and the students from the Imperial Hospital will learn the same things as them."

Director Xiao worried they might not understand, so he added, "They’ll first learn ’Pulse Formula,’ ’Herbal Canon,’ ’Bright Hall,’ and ’Plain Questions.’ After completing these four books, they’ll specialize in their courses."

The noble ladies exchanged glances, and State Duchess Zhao looked at the Empress before saying, "No, this way, what they learn will be different."

Director Xiao said, "Although the specialized courses differ, many medical skills are universal, and the prices vary as well."

The noble ladies who had been negotiating all along said, "Do we look like people lacking money?"

Director Xiao: ...

"Moreover, even if they learn like this, it’s not necessarily what we want. I think it’s better to have them form a separate class, specially hire a group of instructors, and ten spots are too few."

"Exactly, it’s not good giving spots to some families and not others. I say, why not allocate thirty to forty spots."

"As for instructors, having State Doctor Zhou is a must. She’s always attentive and surely knows what to teach female doctors."

"By the way, where is State Doctor Zhou? Why isn’t she here?"

Director Xiao later couldn’t get a word in edgewise, and State Duchess Zhao smiled at the Empress and said, "Empress, why not invite State Doctor Zhou to inquire what she can teach those girls? After all, they’re distant nieces of the family, and we’re somewhat concerned about their future."

Mainly, many words can’t be said in front of Director Xiao’s old face, with Zhou Man there’s not much hesitation, female doctors naturally should communicate with female physicians.

Director Xiao: ...

The Empress also found it too troublesome because she realized the ladies had reservations and couldn’t say certain things out loud, while Director Xiao was hesitant to speak openly. How many days would this tug-of-war take to be settled?

This wasn’t what the Empress wanted, so she slightly nodded to Director Xiao and said, "Let State Doctor Zhou come for a visit."

Director Xiao could only withdraw, but worried that Zhou Man might be overwhelmed by those noble ladies, he didn’t want the palace maid to call her alone, and painstakingly accompanied the maid back to the Chongwen Pavilion. After finding Manbao, he had the maid step back and whispered to Manbao, "Remember, in terms of spots, I’m only allowing them to form a single class, no more."

Manbao: "Twenty people?"

Director Xiao nodded, "You have to consider, you’re the head of Acupuncture Studies, and any female doctor they send in must also be under your oversight; there’s no helping it. You must calculate how much time you have."

Manbao shivered and immediately said, "Don’t worry, I definitely won’t accept too many people."

Director Xiao was satisfied and said, "As for the money, I thought fifty taels a year was acceptable, but they’re too difficult. Raise the price for me. If it’s less than sixty taels a year, don’t come back to see me."

Manbao: ...

Director Xiao was still indignant, "Also, the student accommodations weren’t initially built for them. If they want to move in, it requires additional fees. In any case, if they’re persistent with the spots, you should haggle over the money. Despite them being noble ladies, they’re very tight when it comes to money."

Manbao: ...

Manbao was still a bit dazed when she stepped into the main hall. As soon as she entered, she clumsily greeted the Empress, stood up after hearing the Empress excuse her, and turned around to see several ladies with kind smiles. Most were familiar; she’d seen all of them and treated quite a few for illnesses.