Chapter 248: Was it because Empress Ma had an adverse reaction to the cowpox vaccination that she stayed at home?

Empress Ma, who had always lived in seclusion, walked into the Kunning Palace accompanied by her personal maid Jin'er.

"Tan'er, even though the Wugong Central Guard, Wugong Left Guard, and Wugong Right Guard are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Works, they can solve the talent problem for the project supervision department.

The Financial Supervision Department also needs very professional personnel. Where do you plan to find them? "

At this time, Queen Ma's face showed obvious fatigue, and she seemed to have a slight headache.

Seeing this, Xu Da stood up and asked with concern, "Is the Queen sick again, or has she not recovered from her previous illness yet?"

Zhu Yuanzhang turned his head and glanced at Zhu Gang, "It's all this rebellious son's fault, he insisted that vaccination with cowpox can prevent and treat smallpox.

We originally planned to find a few death row prisoners for the experiment, but the girl secretly went to Dai Sigong to get vaccinated with cowpox.

This feeling of exhaustion and weakness has lasted for several weeks now. What do you think we should do, Third Brother?"

Zhu Gang knew that the smallpox virus was highly contagious and almost everyone who had not been vaccinated with the cowpox vaccine would be infected, and the mortality rate was very high.

Throughout history, the smallpox virus has not only caused the deaths of hundreds of millions of people, but has also had a profound impact on human society and civilization.

The reason why Dai Sigong was able to master the cowpox vaccination technique was due to Zhu Gang's teaching by words and deeds.

The main reason for doing this is that before traveling through time, Zhu Gang learned from a TV series that both Empress Ma and Zhu Xiongying died of smallpox.

Although he didn't know which unofficial history the director and screenwriter got the information from, in line with the principle of being prepared, Zhu Gang decided to eliminate this hidden danger as soon as possible.

But he never expected that Queen Ma would directly let people vaccinate herself with cowpox without a large number of clinical trials as a basis.

“The reason why the Queen Mother had this condition was mainly because her immune system was stimulated after she received the cowpox vaccine.

At the same time, a lot of energy is consumed to fight against the invasion of pathogens.

What you really need at this time is to supplement your nutrition, and you must not eat coarse food all day long."

Since Zhu Yuanzhang came from a poor family, he went through untold hardships before he conquered the world.

Therefore, after he became emperor, he stipulated that every meal must include "coarse dishes" so that later emperors would understand the hardships of the people.

This not only became a family law of the Ming Dynasty, but also the most distinctive feature of the Ming Dynasty court dietary system.

The "coarse vegetables" mentioned here refer to wild vegetables on the one hand and tofu on the other.

Only the stingy Zhu Yuanzhang would feed wild vegetables and tofu to Empress Ma, who had just been vaccinated against cowpox.

Xu Da, who couldn't bear to watch it, said: "Brother, in the eyes of us old brothers, if you are the sun during the day, then your sister-in-law is like the moon at night.

To be honest, you won’t be able to see or control what your successors eat in the future.

If we want to govern the world well, we still have to rely on laws and impartial officials.

Just eating wild vegetables and tofu won’t solve the actual problem! "

To be honest, among the ministers, only Xu Da, Duke of Wei, dared to say such words.

After all, the life and death, honor and disgrace of the nobles during the Hongwu period were still in the hands of Zhu Yuanzhang.

Once you make the slightest mistake, the title you worked so hard to obtain will be taken back.

In fact, what Xu Da said was not speculation. By the time of Zhu Yuanzhang's descendants, the taste of tofu in every meal had changed.

Although they maintained the family tradition of eating tofu for every meal, the raw materials used for the tofu were replaced by the brains of hundreds of birds.

As for those coarse vegetables, the royal chefs even developed the famous "Royal Wild Vegetables" series.

They first stewed the wild vegetables in the stomach of a fresh goose, then took them out and soaked them in fine wine. Finally, they drizzled sesame oil and added various seasonings before the dish was ready.

This kind of "remembering the bitter past and thinking about the sweet present" that has lost its practical meaning is basically like trying to cover up one's faults and stealing a bell.

At least Zhu Yuanzhang knew that it was his stinginess that caused the trouble, so he quickly ordered people to remove all the wild vegetables and tofu.

"It was because of our negligence that the girl suffered so much.

From now on, wild vegetables and tofu will be eaten once a week, at least to avoid malnutrition in the palace."

Empress Ma said apologetically, "To be honest, this matter cannot be blamed entirely on Chongba. I am also partially responsible.

Although those death row inmates were involved in the "Hu Weiyong case" and the "Kong Yin case", I really couldn't bear to see them suffer before they died.

Unexpectedly, the result made everyone worry about me.

Besides, the reason why Your Majesty eats "coarse food" for every meal is also inspired by me, so you should stop blaming Chongba."

In fact, Zhu Yuanzhang's stinginess is clearly recorded in history.

According to convention, the emperor's carriage, utensils and other items should be decorated with gold.

But when the craftsmen started construction, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered that all of them be replaced with copper.

The official in charge said in surprise: "Your Majesty, even if our Ming Dynasty is poor, we can still afford this little money!"

Unexpectedly, Zhu Yuanzhang said with a serious face: "This is not a matter of money, but a question of the customs of the people and the political style.

If we use gold to decorate our own utensils, then the ministers may use silver, and the officials below them may use copper.

So how many officials are there in the country, and how much money will it cost?"

Even after he became emperor, when his ministers suggested that Zhu Yuanzhang expand the imperial palace and decorate it, he rejected the suggestion on the spot.

The reason given by Lao Zhu for this is, "The current palace is solid and durable, which is already very good.

In fact, no matter how luxurious the decoration is, it is just an office space.”

So at Zhu Yuanzhang's strong request, not only was the palace not expanded or renovated during the Hongwu period, but he also had some pictures of thrift and diligence painted on the walls of the palace.

This is to remind myself not to forget my roots, and at the same time to remind the successors to always remember that the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty grew up from a poor family.

Due to Empress Ma's physical condition, the family dinner soon came to an end.

Lan Yu, who had eaten and drunk his fill, wiped his mouth and said to Zhu Gang, "Since the adverse reactions to vaccination against smallpox are so severe, in my opinion, it is better not to promote it for the time being.

After we find a way to solve the adverse reactions, it would be safer to allow other royal children to be vaccinated with cowpox."

Zhu Gang knew that Lan Yu did not believe the explanation he had given before.

In order to ensure that the vaccination plan could be implemented, Zhu Gang explained solemnly: "During the period of my stay in Taiyuan, I sent troops to attack the Northern Yuan Dynasty many times, and almost forced the enemy into a desperate situation.

There is no guarantee that the Northern Yuan Dynasty will not become desperate this time if they send a group of death warriors and throw the things used by smallpox patients into the army.

If we are completely unprepared by then, the consequences will be disastrous!"

In fact, there was another important reason why Zhu Gang was eager to promote smallpox vaccination, which was to cope with future sailing plans.

After all, the smallpox epidemic that spread to America, Australia and other places was spread by European colonists during the Age of Exploration.

(End of this chapter)