Chapter 127: Ink Medicine

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“Whoa!”

A splendid carriage drawn by four fine black horses, each without a single stray hair of another color, came to a halt outside Mohist Hospital.

“What magnificent horses!”

The surrounding townspeople burst into admiration. Countless carriages arrived at Mohist Hospital every day, but four horses of the same pure color were exceedingly rare.

The carriage itself was fashioned entirely from precious wood, its surface adorned with exceptionally exquisite carvings.

When the curtain was lifted, an elderly man of immortal bearing declined the coachman’s assistance and stepped lightly down from the carriage.

“Divine Physician Sun!”

Marquis Mo, who had been waiting outside Mohist Hospital, hurried forward to greet him.

“Marquis Mo, I leave Divine Physician Sun in your care. Be sure to treat him well!” Beside the carriage, Eunuch Pang gave Mo Dun a meaningful glance, reminding him not to forget the emperor’s instructions.

“Rest assured, Eunuch Pang. I guarantee the task will be completed!” Mo Dun replied with a double entendre.

“Divine Physician Sun, this way, please,” Mo Dun invited.

“Divine Physician Sun!”

The crowd nearby called out one after another. Following yesterday’s medical contest at Mohist Hospital, Sun Simiao’s name had resounded throughout Chang’an.

“Thank you, Marquis Mo!” Sun Simiao said, nodding amiably to the surrounding people.

“You flatter me, Divine Physician Sun! Just call me Mo Dun. And I shall call you Elder Sun!” Mo Dun said. Addressing him formally as Divine Physician Sun would create too much distance between them, which would hardly help him build a relationship—how then could he fulfill Second Brother Li’s instructions?

Sun Simiao nodded and followed Mo Dun toward the entrance of Mohist Hospital.

“Brother Sun, you have come from afar. Yesterday, I had several emergency patients in my care and was unable to welcome you personally. I hope you will forgive me.” Elder Hua stood at the entrance and cupped his hands toward Sun Simiao.

“Brother Hua, you are too courteous. Witch doctors have caused untold harm. That you have eradicated this scourge through your own efforts is truly worthy of my admiration,” Sun Simiao said from the bottom of his heart.

As soon as Sun Simiao had arrived in Chang’an, he had read every issue of the Mohist Journal without missing a single one. Elder Hua’s articles had especially captured his attention. Sun Simiao had repeatedly marveled at how greatly this new publication had advanced the spread of medical knowledge.

He himself had treated patients who had suffered terribly at the hands of witch doctors and had repeatedly spoken out against them, yet with little effect. Elder Hua, however, had destroyed a longstanding affliction with a single brief article.

“That was all due to this boy Mo Dun’s clever idea.” Elder Hua smiled proudly. As a man devoted to reviving the medical profession, he took considerable pride in having eliminated the scourge of witch doctors.

“The reputation of the Mohist heir has reached even Mount Wutai. I have heard it spoken of like thunder,” Sun Simiao said with a smile.

“Elder Sun, if you keep praising me, I shall become conceited! Let me show you around Mohist Hospital instead,” Mo Dun said.

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“I have been looking forward to it for a long time!” Sun Simiao said eagerly.

“Mohist Hospital currently has fifty-six physicians and more than two hundred apprentices. The number of patients treated each day reaches a thousand.” Mo Dun announced a figure that left Sun Simiao speechless.

“Excellent. Mo Dun, I must thank the Mohist School for its support of the medical profession!” Sun Simiao said with emotion as he gazed at the throngs of people moving shoulder to shoulder through Mohist Hospital.

Before Mohist Hospital appeared, most medical clinics were little more than family workshops. A small storefront would be rented along a busy street, with the preparation of medicine and the treatment of patients both carried out inside. Not only were such places cramped, but they usually employed no more than one or two physicians and a handful of assistants.

Even Sun Simiao’s own clinic was not much better. Mohist Hospital had practically created an entirely new model for the medical profession, allowing Sun Simiao to glimpse the hope of its rise. This was one of the reasons he had hurried to see Mohist Hospital for himself.

“The fifty-six physicians are broadly divided according to their areas of expertise into internal medicine and surgery. Surgery, in turn, includes orthopedics, dermatology…”

The detailed division of medical specialties at Mohist Hospital immediately brightened Sun Simiao’s eyes. A physician’s time and energy were limited; by specializing in a single field, one could become highly skilled in that discipline within a relatively short period.

Such a system was simply impossible in an ordinary clinic. Everywhere else, physicians were expected to serve as universal practitioners. Only Mohist Hospital could afford the luxury of allowing each physician to specialize in one field.

“When a physician devotes himself to a single discipline, extensive clinical experience and accumulated medical knowledge enable him to improve rapidly. As the physician’s skills advance, more patients are drawn to the hospital,” Sun Simiao exclaimed.

He had essentially understood the operating principle of Mohist Hospital. It was a virtuous cycle. In time, its physicians would become increasingly skilled, its reputation would grow ever greater, and more patients would come seeking treatment by name.

Sun Simiao had even witnessed more than a dozen physicians conducting a joint consultation. Their precise diagnoses and exact prescriptions were no inferior to anything he himself could have provided.

“This is the inpatient department. Patients suffering from serious illnesses are concentrated here, where physicians and apprentices attend to them without interruption around the clock until they recover.”

“This is the emergency department. Physicians take turns standing watch, ensuring that someone is always present. It specializes in rescuing patients suffering from sudden and severe illnesses.”

…

…

After touring one department after another, Sun Simiao was left speechless with amazement. No wonder Mohist Hospital had established such a reputation in Chang’an in so short a time—it had achieved excellence in every aspect.

“This is Mohist Hospital’s pharmacy!” Mo Dun said, pointing toward the enormous storeroom as he introduced it to Sun Simiao.

Pharmacy? How could this be called a pharmacy? It was practically a medicinal-materials factory. Looking at the pharmacy, which occupied five entire rooms, Sun Simiao felt that all the composure he had cultivated over the years had vanished in an instant. The shock Mohist Hospital had given him was simply too great.

“What do you think, Brother Sun?” Elder Hua asked with a smile.

“This has truly broadened my horizons! Brother Hua, you have opened an entirely new path for the medical profession,” Sun Simiao praised him with a sigh.

“Brother Sun, you give me too much credit. Half a year ago, I was merely a country doctor. How could I possibly have had the ability to create such a situation? All of this was that boy Mo Dun’s idea!” Elder Hua knew of Mo Dun’s mission and deliberately steered the conversation toward him.

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“Oh?” Sun Simiao looked at Mo Dun in surprise.

“Mohist Hospital is the product of cooperation between the Mohist School and the medical profession. The Mohist School comes first in that description not because of Mo Dun’s noble title, but because the Mohist School has played an unparalleled role in its creation,” Elder Hua said with emotion.

“These rules and regulations were all devised by that boy Mo Dun. As for the stethoscope and blood-pressure gauge you have already seen, I need say no more about their value. Even the artificial limbs that first made Mohist Hospital famous could only have been produced by the skilled craftsmen of Mohist Village. Yet what gratifies me most is this.”

Elder Hua took a palm-sized packet wrapped in oiled paper from a drawer in the pharmacy. He picked up a cup of hot water belonging to one of the pharmacists, tore open the packet to reveal the granules inside, and poured them into the cup.

“Brother Sun, look.”

Elder Hua gently swirled the cup before handing it to Sun Simiao.

Puzzled, Sun Simiao accepted it and gave it a light sniff. Then he said, “Cinnamon twig, licorice… This is a medicine for wind-cold.”

“Brother Sun truly is a great physician. You identified the ingredients with perfect accuracy from a single sniff. This is indeed a remedy for wind-cold—or, more precisely, a single dose of one. Have you ever calculated how long it takes to decoct a dose of medicine? And how long did I take just now?”

Sun Simiao’s expression changed at once. “Ordinarily, decocting a dose of medicine takes at least half an hour. Yet you took no more than five breaths.”

It was clear that Sun Simiao had already understood Elder Hua’s point. Compared with taking raw herbs home and decocting them oneself, this new medicine was extraordinarily convenient. Mohist Hospital’s success indeed had profound causes. This single ingenious invention alone could persuade countless patients to choose Mohist Hospital.

“That is not all. Every packet of the new medicine contains the same dosage, allowing physicians to prescribe with greater precision and preventing patients from taking too much or too little. It is even more beneficial to treatment. This new medicine is called Mohist Medicine!” Elder Hua said.

“Mohist Medicine!”

The moment Sun Simiao heard the name, he knew it must once again have been Mo Dun’s idea. Unable to contain his curiosity, he asked, “As far as I know, Mo Dun does not appear to have any knowledge of medicine. How, then, did he come up with such a brilliant idea?”

Mo Dun’s heart jolted when he heard this. He realized that he had taken his performance a little too far. After a moment’s thought, inspiration struck him, and he said, “Elder Sun, I came up with the idea of making Mohist Medicine partly because I was tired of the inconvenience of decocting medicine, and partly because I was warned by an old story.”

“An old story? Tell me,” Sun Simiao said with great interest.

“According to a secret Mohist text, there was once an incompetent physician named Hu Tu. On one occasion, he treated a patient by administering an entire pound of croton seeds.”

“An entire pound of croton seeds? Wouldn’t that kill him?”

The instant Mo Dun finished speaking, Sun Simiao and Elder Hua both cried out in alarm. Naturally, they knew the effects of croton seeds, as well as the terrifying power of an entire pound.

Mo Dun nodded. “The patient died the very next day. His father reported the matter to the authorities, and the magistrate asked, ‘When you administered the medicine, did you not consult a medical text?’

“Hu Tu replied, ‘I did consult one. That is precisely why I used croton seeds. The medical text said that croton seeds must not be used lightly. Therefore, I used them heavily—an entire pound.’

“That was the inspiration behind my desire to create Mohist Medicine. Incompetent physicians are truly terrifying.”

“‘Must not be used lightly’!” Sun Simiao repeated bitterly.