PFC Chapter 988 Team Leader Selection
Chapter 988 Team Leader Selection
Inside the Hall of Mental Cultivation, the lights were bright, but the atmosphere was even more somber than the cold winter outside the window.
Huo Duanxiao, Zhuge Zhe, and other important officials were awakened from their sleep and rushed to the Hall of Mental Cultivation, their faces filled with doubt.
When they saw the other people inside the hall, their doubts deepened.
Hua Chang'an, President of the Imperial Medical Academy; Xu Wei, Vice President; Xu Jing, President of the Military Medical Academy...
The presence of these top medical officers from Daqing already made people uneasy. Could it be that His Majesty's health had deteriorated?
But when they saw that Chang Xuening was also present, everyone realized that something big had definitely happened.
Fortunately, Li Che appeared safe and sound, which relieved everyone.
It's good that Your Majesty is alright. Now that Li Che is the only one in Daqing, there is nothing to fear no matter what happens.
Li Che didn't beat around the bush; he directly made public the military report about the major epidemic outbreak in Qiongzhou.
After he finished speaking, the hall fell into a deathly silence.
Everyone's face instantly turned extremely grim. They could imagine what a hellish scene Qiongzhou must be now, and they were even more aware of the devastating impact the plague had on the country.
If not controlled properly, it's not impossible for half the country's population to die.
Li Che picked up his teacup and took a sip of the already cold tea.
Then, his gaze swept over the crowd: "I have made my decision, Qiongzhou must be saved!"
There were no impassioned speeches, no complicated explanations, just this simple sentence, which immediately put everyone at ease and eased their tense emotions.
The emperor has made the most difficult decision, so the question facing others has changed from 'whether to do it' to 'how to do it,' making the goal much clearer.
Li Che first looked at Hua Chang'an, who had been promoted to the head of the Imperial Medical Academy, and asked, "Imperial Physician Hua, you are a leading figure in medicine. What are your insights on this epidemic?"
Hua Chang'an has followed Li Che for so long and is already quite old, but his eyes are still clear.
He pondered for a moment, then organized his thoughts and said, “Your Majesty, esteemed officials, the biggest problem now is that we do not know the type of plague.”
"Based solely on the descriptions in the military reports such as 'sores oozing pus, high fever and chills,' it is impossible to determine the exact cause of this epidemic."
"These symptoms are all common manifestations of the decline of the body's vital energy and the excess of pathogenic factors, and may correspond to a variety of epidemic diseases: smallpox, plague, typhoid fever, tuberculosis... all are possible."
“Different causes of disease require different treatments and prevention priorities. If we want to effectively treat the disaster victims, the most urgent task is to send skilled medical personnel to Hainan Island to go deep into the epidemic area and come into contact with the patients. Detailed examinations are needed to determine the type and cause of the disease.”
"Only in this way can we take targeted measures, match appropriate medicines, and formulate epidemic prevention strategies."
"Otherwise, blindly attempting rescue will be counterproductive and may even backfire."
Li Che nodded slightly, agreeing with Hua Chang'an's idea: "What Physician Hua said is exactly what I was thinking."
"I have ordered the Imperial Medical Academy, the Medical College of Fengguo University, and the Military Hospital to jointly select capable personnel to form a medical advance team, ready to depart at any time."
"At the same time, I will order the army and the counties along the way to collect all kinds of herbs and transport them to the front line in Qiongzhou as quickly as possible."
His gaze swept over the several medical officers in the hall again, and his tone became more serious: "The medical team will be completed soon, but we still need a person of high moral character and superb medical skills to take charge of the whole situation and personally go to Qiongzhou."
All eyes were on the physicians.
Xu Jing, the director of the military hospital, is a woman in her early thirties.
She had a difficult past. She was one of the women rescued by Li Che from the bandit den in Mangdang Mountain. She joined the medical battalion at its inception and worked her way up from a low-level medic to her current position.
This woman is extremely experienced and has exceptional courage. After Chang Xuening gradually withdrew from specific tasks, she took on the main responsibility of the medical team.
Upon hearing Li Che's words, Xu Jing stepped forward without hesitation, clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Your Majesty, this humble general is willing to go!"
Chang Xuening frowned slightly upon hearing this, and Li Che also shook his head, saying gently, "Dean Xu's courage is commendable, but this time he is facing a large-scale plague, which is different from the trauma emergency treatment path that military doctors are good at."
"If you were to take charge of the overall situation, I fear you would find it difficult to utilize your strengths. I cannot allow you to take such unnecessary risks."
Xu Jing's lips moved, as if she wanted to argue.
But upon closer examination, what the emperor said was indeed true.
The military doctor's strength lies in treating clear external injuries, but her experience was indeed not a good fit for this plague of unknown cause.
Even if we go, they may not be able to come up with a treatment plan quickly, and it may even waste time.
Although unwilling, Xu Jing dared not disregard the seriousness of the epidemic and silently retreated.
As a result, the candidates narrowed down to Hua Chang'an and Vice President Xu Wei.
Xu Wei stroked his white beard and slowly said, "This old minister is willing to go, but what I have learned is all traditional medical theory, herbal medicine, acupuncture, and diagnosis and treatment."
"Faced with such a major epidemic, we can only follow the ancient methods and do our best, but it is unlikely to have any miraculous effects."
He spoke frankly, and there was no fear on his face, so Li Che believed him.
Xu Wei is a master of traditional medicine, and his character is beyond reproach; he can be described as having high medical ethics.
Today, the core members of the Imperial Medical Academy are all graduates of Fengguo University, and are greatly influenced by modern medical thought, which is quite different from the traditional medical approach.
After all, the position of imperial physician is very crucial; it must be someone the emperor's trusted confidant.
Take Liu Wentai, the legendary imperial physician of the Ming Dynasty, for example. He literally cured two emperors, Emperor Xianzong and Emperor Xiaozong, to death, yet he was still unharmed, only being exiled to Guangxi.
Years later, he actually managed to die peacefully. Who would believe there wasn't something fishy going on?
Li Che learned a profound lesson and selected imperial physicians who were all students of Fengguo University, one of the most loyal groups to him.
The fact that most of the imperial physicians in the Imperial Medical Academy were trained in modern medicine inevitably led to the decline of traditional medicine.
Therefore, Li Che appointed Xu Wei as the vice president, originally out of consideration for balancing traditional medicine.
Li Che frowned slightly; he knew that Xu Wei was not a good candidate.
It wasn't that Li Che looked down on traditional medicine, but rather that the modern medicine program at Fengguo University had specialized courses for combating large-scale epidemics.
Sending Xu Wei, a renowned traditional doctor, would likely render him ineffective in command and would only serve as a figurehead.
Silence fell over the hall for a moment.
It seems that only Hua Chang'an is capable of shouldering this heavy responsibility.
Hua Chang'an was not only proficient in traditional medicine, but also one of the earliest people to study modern medicine. His medical skills were a culmination of ancient and modern knowledge, and he was Li Che's most trusted imperial physician.
Hua Chang'an looked at the gazes cast upon him and sighed inwardly, knowing that he could not escape this responsibility.
He straightened his clothes, just about to ask for permission, when he heard a gentle yet firm voice:
"Your Majesty, Your Excellencies, I... am willing to go to Qiongzhou to oversee the rescue efforts."
Everyone was shocked and looked in the direction of the voice. It turned out to be Chang Xuening who was speaking!