Life of Being a Crown Prince in France

Perna blinked her bright eyes: “Wh-why?”

Joseph organized his words and said: “Human nature. You must remember that human nature is selfish.

“For example, low-cost medicine. People will pretend to be sick and buy large quantities of it, then turn around and sell it to pharmacies at a higher price. The hospital’s drug inventory will soon be depleted.”

Perna was taken aback but soon nodded slowly: “You’re right. It seems we’ll have to let people buy medicine from pharmacies. The simple hospital will only handle diagnosis and treatment.”

She then smiled again: “But even so, it can save everyone a lot of money.”

The medical model of this era is still mainly based on private clinics. Doctors visit homes for treatment, so the charges certainly aren’t low.

Joseph sighed and shook his head again: “I’m afraid that’s not feasible either. According to your plan, the simple hospital barely makes any profit, so the doctors’ salaries will inevitably be very low.”

Perna nodded: “Indeed. Doctors earn 65 francs a month. Nurses earn 28 francs.”

Joseph said: “With such meager income, they cannot maintain their integrity.

“Before long, doctors would prioritize patients who are willing to pay more, or keep calling back those who have already recovered.

“Oh, it wouldn’t even be surprising if they start renting out beds and tents directly.

“In the end, people will find that seeing a doctor at a simple hospital isn’t much cheaper than elsewhere.”

He looked at the stunned Perna and persisted in finishing: “Actually, even if everyone were selfless saints, it wouldn’t achieve the ideal results you envision.

“Such a simple hospital can at most serve two thousand people. And Paris has six to seven hundred thousand people, meaning it would need over 300 simple hospitals. Not to mention that it would cost over 800,000 francs to build these hospitals, it’s simply impossible to recruit the 300 doctors needed.”

“And this is just in Paris…”

Perna immediately became extremely disheartened.

She originally thought she had found an ingenious way for the poor to afford medical treatment, but after listening to the Crown Prince, she realized how naive her idea was.

After a moment, she looked to Joseph for help: “Your Highness, isn’t there any other way?”

In her heart, the Crown Prince seemed omnipotent.

Joseph was quite helpless too.

To be honest, he was very keen on establishing a national healthcare system.

After all, population has always been a core indicator of national strength.

The more the population, the stronger the country’s productivity and military power.

Especially in the early stages of industrialization, the demand for labor was almost endless.

Moreover, France had acquired quite a few new territories in recent years, all of which needed to be populated with its own citizens to truly assimilate them.

And if one wants to increase the population, it comes down to two paths—increasing birth rates and reducing death rates.

The medical conditions of this era are utterly deplorable.

Usually, only in big cities are there professional doctors, and treatment fees are expensive, mostly serving the nobles and the wealthy. Ordinary people rely on sheer perseverance and prayer when sick.

As for Church hospitals? They’re places to isolate infectious patients, and the treatment methods are more professional prayers.

In rural areas, the task of treating the sick usually falls to barbers, who, after being paid, simply bleed the patient, regardless of life or death.

If a national healthcare system could really be implemented, it would undoubtedly cause France’s unnatural mortality rate to drop exponentially.

To say nothing else, having doctors in all rural areas to tell parents not to let children drink dirty water while having diarrhea could save thousands of children’s lives each year.

However, with the current conditions in France, unless Jesus performs a miracle, it’s impossible for anyone to build a hospital in every village.

The most developed England in history only started the “village hospital” system half a century later, thanks to industrialization.

Joseph put down his utensils and patiently analyzed for Perna: “This is, I’m afraid, very difficult…

“Firstly, although the cost of simple hospitals is low, spreading them across the country requires an investment of at least 40 million francs, a burden the national treasury simply can’t bear.”

“Besides, I estimate that this is far from enough. Because doing the same thing in remote areas costs at least twice as much as in Paris.”

“Secondly, we simply don’t have that many doctors either.”

Nowadays, fewer than three hundred people in France can obtain a medical license each year, not even enough for the big cities, let alone the countryside.

Joseph continued: “Even if enough doctors were trained, most of them wouldn’t want to go to the countryside.”

Perna’s gaze dimmed slightly, thinking of her responsibility as the head of the Military Medical University in not training more qualified doctors.

Camellia, an outsider, muttered somewhat unwillingly: “It would be great if people could get treated without hospitals and doctors.”

Joseph couldn’t help but laugh: “Without hospitals and doctors how…”

He was suddenly stunned halfway through his words. Wait, why can’t people be treated without hospitals and doctors?

The Eastern countries did it in the sixties and seventies, didn’t they?

He almost blurted out, “Barefoot doctors.”

The term “barefoot doctors” in later generations even carried a derogatory connotation, suggesting a disregard for life.

But Joseph was very clear that in the years after the founding of the Eastern countries, when funds and doctors were scarce, this “make-do treatment” model saved countless lives.

And the current situation in France is very similar to the Eastern countries at that time. So, the best solution given by later generations could simply be directly copied there.

The two girls sitting beside him immediately turned to look.

“Did you just say, doctors without shoes?”

“Who’s that doctor?”

Joseph’s face showed a smile: “That’s not a person, but a kind of medical system.

“We were just too fixated on formality.”

“Actually, anyone with just basic medical knowledge could diagnose about half of everyday illnesses.”

“And if you provide them with a manual listing the clinical features of various diseases and which medications to use for treatment, they could even treat over 70% of illnesses.”

Perna’s eyes also lit up: “Yes, a ‘doctor’ with mediocre skills is still far better than no doctor at all.

“If we only train the basic medical knowledge, one month would be enough for quick-minded people.

“This way, we can train a large number of people capable of treating simple illnesses in a short time.”

Joseph felt a bit awkward with the term “barefoot doctor,” so he adapted it to the French custom: “We can call them ‘Quasi-doctors.’

“Select a literate and quick-minded individual from each village for training, letting them be responsible for the village’s healthcare, even as a side job.

“And the hospital will be in their home.”

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