binnovel Chapter 584 The Campaign Against Wei 5
Chapter 584 The Campaign Against Wei 5
The sound of a night watchman's drum came from outside the window; it was already the hour of Hai (9-11 PM).
"It's time to rest." Li Yanran blew out the oil lamp. "Tomorrow we have an agricultural class, Liu Cui, the hands-on practice with the curved plow that you've been looking forward to."
"Really?" Liu Cui exclaimed in delight. "I will definitely study hard! In the future... in the future when the world is unified, I will go back to the village and teach everyone how to use it!"
In the darkness, several girls smiled at each other. They may not yet realize that they are living in a great era of change. And what they have learned and what they have thought will, in the near future, truly change the world.
At the same time, Daqin Medical College.
Inside the dissection room, the oil lamp cast long shadows on the wall. Chunyu Shu carefully wiped the copper scalpel in her hand, her movements gentle and focused.
"Shumei, aren't you going to rest?" A gentle voice came from the doorway.
Chunyu Shu looked up and saw her roommate, Wei Lingyu. This daughter of a royal physician possessed the calm and composed temperament inherited from her father and was skilled in the prevention and treatment of epidemics.
"It'll be done soon." Chunyu Shu put the scalpel back into the toolbox. "I felt a little rusty when I practiced delivery techniques today."
Wei Lingyu walked in, holding a newspaper in her hand: "Take a look at this first. Your grandfather's article has spread throughout Xianyang today."
Chunyu Shu paused. Her falling out with her grandfather stemmed from her desire to study medicine. Chunyu Yue believed women should adhere to traditional virtues, and studying medicine was already considered heretical, let alone learning midwifery—which involved contact with the mother's body, something the older generation viewed as utterly immoral. The argument from two years ago was still vivid in her mind:
"If you step out of this door, you will no longer be a member of the Chunyu family!" roared the grandfather.
“My granddaughter only wanted to save people, what’s wrong with that?” she stubbornly insisted.
In the end, she left home without looking back, carrying only a simple bag.
"I...don't want to see." Chunyu Shu lowered her head.
"Take a look," Wei Lingyu said, spreading the newspaper on the table. "It's related to you."
Chunyu Shu hesitated for a moment, then leaned closer. When she read the section on "equal education," her eyes widened.
"...The Great Qin Academy offers courses in classics and history, mathematics, law, physics, agriculture and engineering, and selects students based solely on their talent, regardless of social status. If the world is unified, such academies can be established throughout the prefectures and counties...so that the children of Qi can learn Qin script, and the sons of Chu can read Han Fei...with education equitable, outstanding talents will emerge in large numbers."
"Regardless of social status, only talent matters..." Chunyu Shu murmured repeatedly. Wasn't this exactly what she had always longed for? Not to be looked down upon because she was a woman, not to be judged because she studied medicine, but solely based on her talent and hard work...
"Although your grandfather is old-fashioned, this article is quite well written." Roommate Feng Yi had entered unnoticed. This woman from Sichuan was skilled in preventing mosquito bites and infectious diseases, speaking with a Sichuan accent. "Look here," she said, "'Water conservancy'—with unobstructed irrigation canals, there are fewer breeding grounds for mosquitoes, and diseases like malaria and cholera can be reduced. If the world could truly be unified, and epidemics could be controlled uniformly, how many lives could be saved!"
Xu Zhizhou followed behind. This student from a poor family, who had entered medical school with the highest score two years ago, had a gleam in his eyes: "More importantly, it's about making healthcare more accessible. Although the article didn't explicitly say so, Her Highness the Princess once said that she wanted to set up clinics and pharmacies in various counties. If that can really be achieved, people in those remote areas will also be able to receive medical treatment."
Chunyu Shu continued reading, and when she came to the line, "To bring forth the talents of the six states into the Qin court; to unite the cultures of all nations under the rule of China," her hand trembled slightly. Couldn't this also apply to medicine? The plasters of Qi, the herbs of Chu, the surgery of Qin... if the strengths of each could be combined, how much progress would medicine make?
“I heard,” Ying Jingyi joined the discussion, this member of the royal family was skilled in treating external injuries, “that Princess Jiayang plans to open a course called ‘The Way of a Hundred Schools of Medicine’ at the medical school, integrating the essence of medical techniques from various countries. By then, we will be learning more than just Qin medicine.”
Chen Chuan was the last to enter. This medical student, from a farming background, was the most pragmatic: "I don't know much about other things, but I do know that if the world could truly be unified and roads were built, transporting medicinal herbs would be much easier. Right now, it takes two months to transport medicinal herbs from Sichuan to Xianyang, and 30% of them are lost. If there were paved roads everywhere..."
Everyone chimed in with their own opinions, engaging in a lively discussion. Chunyu Shu, however, remained silent, her gaze lingering on the passage at the end of the article concerning the "ancestral temples of the six states."
"Some may question: What about the ancestral temples of the six states? What about the descendants of the old nobility? ... The unification of the world is not about extermination, but about integration; not about destruction, but about sublimation."
Fusion...sublimation...
She suddenly remembered the mountains of bamboo slips in her grandfather's study, his kind face as he taught her to read the Book of Poetry and the Book of History, and the ancestral tablets enshrined in the family ancestral hall...
"Shumei?" Wei Lingyu noticed her unusual behavior.
Chunyu Shu raised her head, tears welling in her eyes: "I...I think I understand why Grandfather wrote this article."
"Oh?"
“He wasn’t advocating for Qin; he was… pleading for the world.” Chunyu Shu’s voice choked with emotion. “Just like I studied medicine not to rebel, but to save lives. My grandfather wrote this article hoping for less war and more peace in the world.”
“So this article,” Chunyu Shu stroked the words on the newspaper, “is the culmination of my grandfather’s lifelong wish. He hoped for a unified world, for an end to war, and for people to live in peace... just as we hoped for widespread medical knowledge and for everyone to be healthy.”
Xu Zhizhou pondered: "So, in essence, our pursuit of medicine to save lives and our goal of unifying the world are the same—both are for the well-being of all people."
“That’s right.” Chunyu Shu nodded firmly. “Although I have broken with my grandfather, I agree with his article. No, not just agree… I will take practical actions to realize the vision in the article.”
"What operation?" everyone asked curiously.
Chunyu Shu walked to the wall, where a diagram of human meridians hung: "I want to improve my midwifery skills. Do you know? Childbirth is a life-threatening ordeal for women. In rural areas, three or four out of ten women die in childbirth. If we can promote scientific midwifery methods and train more midwives, how many mothers and children's lives can be saved?"
She turned around, her eyes shining: "And this requires the unification of the world! It requires the unification of medicine and administration! It requires medical clinics and training facilities in every region! It requires smooth roads and an abundance of medicinal herbs! It requires... it requires the peaceful and prosperous era described in this article!"
Enthusiastic words echoed in the anatomy room. For the first time, these young medical students realized so profoundly how closely their ideals were intertwined with the changes of this era.
Feng Yi was the first to respond: "Well said! I specialize in infectious disease prevention and control, and we also need unified coordination. Epidemics know no borders; if each country acts independently, how can we control them?"