Life of Being a Crown Prince in France

This top doctor of France, the famous inventor of the “percussion technique,” upon hearing about the Crown Prince’s grand plan to implement national healthcare, threw himself into the endeavor without hesitation.

Seeing this person’s immense enthusiasm for the work, Joseph appointed him as the director of the Bureau of Medical and Health Affairs.

Kovisat did not disappoint, immediately upon taking office he utilized his influence in the academic world to gather all of Paris’s famous doctors and pharmacists, and within just over 20 days, completed the first edition of the “Quasi-doctor’s Manual.”

Beside him, Perna also looked expectantly at the Crown Prince.

She was also one of the important contributors to the “Manual.”

However, as Joseph continued to flip through the “Manual,” his eyebrows furrowed deeper and deeper, but after a moment, he laughed.

This thing, rather than being called a medical guide, might as well be called a witchcraft guide.

For instance, the manual repeatedly mentions a herb called “Golden Chamomile,” which is practically of the Immortal Pill caliber.

From diuresis, sedation, to external application on wounds, and even soaking in wine to treat plagues, all are effective!

Lavender for treating infections.

Peppermint for treating gastrointestinal diseases.

Mercury for treating syphilis…

Joseph felt that these doctors would use whatever they could find.

As for efficacy?

Well, ultimately Jesus has got it covered, right?

Fortunately, with Perna’s persistent insistence, no mention of bloodletting therapy was included in the “Manual.”

Of course, the “Manual” also contains scientifically effective content such as using cinchona bark to treat malaria, opium tincture for pain relief, and “Prince’s Blessing” for treating pneumonia.

Until Joseph saw the section on “Diagnosis and Treatment of Smallpox,” he couldn’t hold it anymore and burst into laughter.

Diagnosis aside, the recommended smallpox treatment is:

Mixing a certain amount of horse manure with a mouse’s tail, crushing it, wrapping it in red cloth, and drinking it soaked in water. Soaking in wine is even more effective.

It further adds: Since smallpox is “God’s punishment,” one should pray devoutly after taking the potion…

Kovisat and Perna’s expressions began to turn unnatural.

“Your Highness, is there something wrong?”

Joseph really wanted to reply, “There’s barely anything right,” but considering not to dampen their enthusiasm for work, he solemnly said, “For example, regarding the method for treating smallpox, have you used this ‘medicine’ to cure patients?”

To his surprise, Kovisat nodded without hesitation, “Yes, Your Highness. I saved three smallpox patients with this potion last year.”

Joseph was taken aback, what? Horse manure + mouse tail cured smallpox?

He then slapped his forehead, right, smallpox can sometimes heal on its own.

He asked again, “And how many people have used this potion without success?”

Kovisat still without hesitation replied, “Over a dozen, but you know, smallpox is inherently difficult to treat, and this cure rate is already not low.”

Joseph sighed, looking at Perna, “Do you remember the double-blind experiment method I talked to you about?”

The lady doctor nodded.

Joseph continued, “Has this potion been subjected to double-blind testing?”

Perna cautiously said, “Your Highness, this is already an established effective formula, so…”

Joseph rubbed his forehead again.

Where does your confidence come from?

Mentioning smallpox, he suddenly recalled the real effective treatment and immediately looked at Kovisat, “Are you aware of the method of inoculating with cowpox to resist smallpox?”

“Cowpox?” The latter hesitated, “Are you referring to ‘variolation’?”

“This method from the East… some people indeed consider it effective, but more authoritative theories suggest it would only cause healthy people to contract smallpox.”

Joseph was slightly stunned and hurriedly asked, “You don’t know ‘cowpox’? It’s inoculating humans with pus from a cow with smallpox.”

Kovisat widened his eyes and shook his head, “This, I’ve never heard of.”

Perna also followed with a shake of her head.

Joseph’s eyes lit up, could it be that “vaccination” hasn’t been invented in this era?

In fact, the British doctor Edward Jenner had started experimenting with cowpox inoculation on people two years ago, his son was the first to be vaccinated.

But due to the lack of theoretical support and the unpleasantness of inoculating with fluid from diseased cows, he never publicly presented his research results.

Historically, it wasn’t until two years later that he finally confirmed cowpox could also immunize against smallpox and began promoting it. It wasn’t until the early nineteenth century that this method was widely accepted in England.

And now, this achievement is definitely going to belong to France.

Joseph knew very well that in France, sixty to seventy thousand people died from smallpox each year, with tens of thousands more disfigured by it.

The most effective preventive method currently is “variolation”—using pus from a almost cured smallpox patient and inoculating it into a healthy human.

Since this is genuine human smallpox virus, many healthy people fell ill and died from it. Hence, no one was willing to be inoculated with “variolation.”

But “cowpox” is different.

This thing belongs to the same family as human smallpox, but its ability to infect humans is very weak, allowing people to acquire immunity without getting sick.

Joseph immediately instructed Kovisat, “Please immediately organize manpower to conduct ‘vaccination’ experiments. That means inoculating humans with pus from diseased cows.”

The latter was immediately startled, “Your Highness, how is that possible? That’s a cow.”

“Please trust me.” Joseph had to resort to old methods, tracing a cross on his chest, “These are revelations from Jesus.”

“If you have concerns, I can select some prison volunteers for you to experiment on.”

Kovisat was still hesitating when Perna nodded and said, “Alright, Your Highness, I will assist Mr. Kovisat in completing the experiments.”

What the Crown Prince taught her has never been wrong. She firmly believed that he truly received revelations from Jesus.

Joseph knew nothing about vaccination; he could only propose the concept and leave the rest to the experts.

Hmm, those protagonists in time-travel novels who immediately grab diseased cows to inoculate people are just joking around.

Which cows to choose? What type of pus to use? How much? Should it be diluted? How to handle people with different physiques?

These all require extensive experimentation to determine.

He discussed the matter of vaccination a bit further with the two doctors in front of him. Upon hearing that “variolation” involved using a knife to cut open the skin and drip the pus inside, he immediately shook his head, “Haven’t we already started producing syringes? Why are we still using cutting methods for variolation?”

Kovisat blinked in confusion, “Syringes? What are those?”

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