The Lucky Farmgirl

Chapter 1719 - 1694: The Grand Court Assembly

There is always a grand assembly after court holidays end, and this time was no exception.

Early in the morning, after discussing some important matters, everyone held their breath waiting, and many officials who were aware of or sensed the trending news did not move.

Finally, an official from the Ministry of Revenue stepped forward, bowed, and said, "Your Majesty, I have something to say about Censorate official Wang Ji’s accusation of the Crown Prince and the Imperial Medical Bureau colluding to amass wealth."

The Emperor raised his eyes and nodded, "Speak."

The official from the Ministry of Revenue said, "The Imperial Medical Bureau’s private medical education only earns about two thousand taels a year. I have reviewed their budget plan, which covers the losses from their teaching, roughly this amount annually, and it doesn’t amount to amassing wealth."

Wang Ji immediately stood up and said, "Your Majesty, the Imperial Medical Bureau is merely about learning medicine. Even in government schools, the annual tuition is around eight taels. No private school outside dares charge more than twenty taels, yet the Imperial Medical Bureau’s basic medical craft dares to charge a hundred taels. Do they realize that’s a hundred thousand copper coins?"

The Emperor, who was sipping tea, nearly spat it out. Yes, converted to copper coins, it’s indeed a lot.

He stopped drinking tea. Seeing they were about to start arguing, he turned over the table and selected Zhou Man’s earlier submitted memorial that had been returned, handing it to Gu Zhong beside him and said, "Coincidentally, today I received a memorial also mentioning this matter, but it’s an accusation against Courtier Wang. Gu Zhong, read it to them."

Gu Zhong accepted it with a bow, opened it and glanced over it, then raised his head to the officials below and said, "This is a memorial submitted by Chongwen Pavilion compiled by Zhou Man."

Then he began to read, starting with Zhou Man’s youthful and lively write-up, "Your Majesty, today I heard about Censorate official Lord Wang’s accusation regarding the Imperial Medical Bureau’s hundred tael tuition for private classes concerning the Crown Prince and Director Xiao. Upon hearing this, I was heartbroken and greatly angered."

"Heartbroken that in our Great Jin and Your Majesty there exists such official, angered that in our Great Jin and Your Majesty there exists such official..."

Gu Zhong paused here and couldn’t help but raise his head to explain to the officials, "This is what’s written in the memorial, not my repetition."

The Emperor propped his hand on his forehead to block the sight below and secretly chuckled.

Gu Zhong paused for a moment and continued reading, "Your Majesty should know, the matter of the Imperial Medical Bureau was jointly advocated by Bai Shan, Bai Cheng, and me. The memorial has already been conveyed by Your Majesty to each authority for review. The original intent of establishing the Imperial Medical Bureau was for the millions of people of Great Jin, benefiting not only the poor but also the wealthy. The diseases of this world require thorough exploration for effective treatment. Training medical practitioners will not only serve the poor but also the wealthy."

"And Your Majesty and the Empress, with benevolent hearts, felt deeply for the hardships of the country’s impoverished population; hence, you emptied the private treasury to establish the Imperial Medical Bureau for free training of physicians. The estimated cost from the Eastern Palace and the Imperial Medical Bureau over three years exceeds a million coins, let alone future expenses when trained physicians begin treating the populace, which will only increase."

"Were Your Majesty and the Empress aware of these expenses, yet still agreed to build the Imperial Medical Bureau out of self-interest? Certainly not, it was for the people’s interests, for the development of medicine and disease treatment across generations, for increasing the lifespan of future descendants..."

Zhou Man is usually loquacious, writing at great length for the introduction before shifting the focus to the private classes.

Originally, she wanted to write why these private classes were established, but wasn’t it due to the powerful noble families wanting to influence and insert people, and thus the Imperial Medical Bureau had to devise a response due to compulsion?

However, Bai Shan advised that writing this would create too much resentment, mainly because the submitted list included the families of the Cui, Wang, Lu, even the Crown Princess’s family, the Empress’ family, and also Libationer Kong’s family.

Manbao, if she didn’t want to be besieged, could only overlook this and not mention that the Imperial Medical Bureau was coerced by power.

So she overlooked and didn’t mention their being coerced, just stating, "... The Empress cared for the ministers, thinking that the court ministers who toil for the state affairs should indeed take care of their health, hence we expended efforts to set up this private class, with the hundred tael price discussed in front of the Empress by State Duchess Zhao and others."

"Lord Wang criticizes our Imperial Medical Bureau for amassing wealth on one hand, yet registered a slot with us on the other," Gu Zhong quickly glanced downwards, deciding to continue reading despite seeing some words, "... Does Lord Wang consider our medical craft inferior to scholars? To learn medicine, one must first learn words and characters. What doctor doesn’t know how to read? And which scholar doesn’t understand a little of medical principles? Don’t forget, medicine originates from the Yellow Emperor. If we talk about noble, who could be more so than him?"

"Registering with our Imperial Medical Bureau is for self-interest. This accusation, suppressing physicians, isn’t for national benefits but rather for self-interest!" Manbao wrote, "Censors should oversee the officials, seeking benefits for the people, and officials should prioritize the people, loyally serving the ruler. But you all think only of self-interest, making the court an utter mess, not only undermining the state and His Majesty but also complaining about insufficient benefits from them, it’s simply outrageous!"

She wrote, "How do you evaluate this year’s tuition? I’m telling you, I assess it based on the value of a physician. We collect less than a tenth of a physician’s full worth. Do you know how many people they can save placed in local medical bureaus, how much they can increase the population each year? The value of a person is immeasurable!"

"You pride in scholars, thinking they govern the nation, but medicine cures the people, and the nation consists of people. Besides, we fulfill our duty as physicians, yet you fail your role as scholars. As scholars well-versed in literature, you think daily only of petty profits, neglecting the country’s and His Majesty’s interests, living extravagantly on salaries..."

The remaining words were harsher, a pile of refined insults. Gu Zhong sneakily peeked at Wang Ji, whose face was blue with anger, and seeing the Emperor had not called a halt, read out all those insulting four-character idioms with difficulty.

It was expected that as soon as this unfriendly memorial was read, the court would erupt into arguments. However, just when the infuriated Wang Ji was about to speak, another person stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, I second Zhou Man’s report, I also have a memorial to impeach Wang Ji, Liang Fei, and others..."

Immediately after, another person rose and stepped forward, "I also wish to impeach Wang Ji, Liang Fei for living extravagantly on salaries, only pursuing self-interests..."

"I second this..."

"We second this," Immediately, more than ten people knelt down in the hall in unison and said, "We request Your Majesty to thoroughly investigate the conduct of Wang Ji, Liang Fei, and others."

The court fell silent, and Wei Zhi, who had been half-closed eyes, also opened them, stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, the most reproachable thing for an official is living extravagantly on salaries. I too second this, urging Your Majesty to thoroughly investigate this matter."

Wang Ji widened his eyes, knelt down immediately and said, "Your Majesty, I am wronged, Zhou Man’s actions are retaliatory."