< Chapter 22: Sprouting... Carcinogenesis? (15) >
"The script of the Western barbarians is truly fascinating."
"Your Highness?"
"Come here."
Sejong called Hyang to his side and continued speaking while pointing at the Latin sentences with his hand.
"Seeing how these words appear continuously here and there, they seem to indicate the case of the sentence subject. And looking at how the words are written, this part here appears to represent the initial sound of speech, and right here is the middle sound, and this part seems to mark the final sound. So, they combine like this to form a single character. However, these letters indicating the middle sounds appear to be these, these, and these. Seeing how they create words and sentences in this manner, the Western barbarians did not embody meaning but rather embodied pronunciation. Is that correct?"
"Y-yes, that is correct!"
Hyang answered while stammering, his soul half-gone.
'He's a true genius! No, he's a monster!'
In just a short time of reading the book, Sejong had grasped not only the definite and indefinite articles of Latin but also the word formation method and the fact that it was a phonetic script.
It was a moment when Hyang actually experienced Sejong's genius that he had only known through textbooks until now.
Sejong, who had picked up the book again and was reading on, looked back at Hyang.
"Do all the Western barbarians use this script?"
"No, Your Highness. They write based on this script, but it differs slightly."
Hyang selected books from France and Germany and placed them on the desk.
"Hmm... hmm..."
Sejong, who was alternately examining the books from France and Germany and the Latin books, stroked his beard.
"The forms of the scripts are largely similar with minor differences. Some variations are visible in the letters that determine pronunciation... hmm..."
Sejong, who had been making nasal sounds, looked at Hyang with a serious face.
"Crown Prince."
"Yes, Father."
"What do you think about creating a script exclusively for our Joseon?"
'Here it comes!'
Cheering inwardly, Hyang answered promptly.
"I believe a script exclusively for our Joseon is absolutely necessary! How many people know the Chinese characters that the scholar-officials revere as True Script? And among those who know Chinese characters, how many can use them properly? If Chinese characters are the True Script, then why do we use Idu?"
"It seems you had a hard time writing sentences."
"Hehe!"
Seeing Hyang's childlike appearance, Sejong burst into a chuckle and nodded.
"Haha! I also remember having a hard time when I first wrote sentences. I agonized for over one shi and wrote a poem, but Father and Grandfather burst into laughter upon reading that writing."
Sejong, who was reminiscing about his childhood memories, looked at Hyang.
"Certainly, since the Chinese language and our Korean language are completely different, this is a problem. It becomes difficult for the people to submit appeals even when they want to resolve their grievances. The problem is that creating a script is not an easy task."
"There are many wise people around Father, so if only you make the decision, it will become an easy task."
At Hyang's words, Sejong shook his head.
"If I publicly announce that I will create a script, at that very moment, Jiphyeonjeon will become my enemy."
"Father."
Hyang called out to Sejong upon seeing his expression that seemed to have much to say. However, Sejong did not continue speaking and rose from his seat.
"The night has grown deep. You should sleep now."
"Yes, Father. Please retire to sleep as well. Father must be healthy for Joseon to be stable."
"You rascal..."
Sejong, who was about to leave the room with a chuckle, stopped his steps and looked back at Hyang.
"I hope you grow up quickly and reach the age of Jihak (15 years old)."
"What?"
"Sleep now."
After seeing Sejong off, Hyang prepared for bed. Hyang, who had lain down on the bedding laid out by the court ladies, suddenly sat up and muttered. This was because Sejong's words before leaving the room kept lingering in his mind.
"This gives me chills down my spine."
* * *
The palace, especially around the Naeuibu (Royal Medical Office), was busy with preparations for smallpox vaccination targeting the residents of the palace and Hanyang.
The head of the Naeuibu, the Naeuibu Jeong (Director), grabbed the physicians to check the situation.
"Are the needles for vaccinating with cowpox prepared?"
"100 have been prepared."
"100 is not enough! Prepare 200 more!"
"How are the cattle coming along?"
"5 head have been prepared!"
"With 5 head, how many people can be treated?"
"If all goes as expected, we can vaccinate all those among the palace and the Six Ministries who have not had smallpox, with plenty to spare."
"Good! Make sure to record exactly how long the pus collected from cowpox-infected cattle lasts!"
"Understood!"
"And how much alcohol for disinfection has been secured?"
"Distillation is ongoing even now."
"Make sure there is enough preparation so we don't run short."
"Yes, sir."
The Jeong, who had sorted out the situation to some extent, let out a small sigh.
"Phew... Disinfection... The work has increased several times over. His Highness the Crown Prince guaranteed it, but will it really bear fruit?"
* * *
Until that time, the concept of disinfection was hardly established. Not washing hands when examining patients was basic, and reusing needles was also commonplace. However, such practices were completely overturned during the implementation of cowpox vaccination.
"You're cleaning the cattle? And boiling the needles too?"
At the Jeong's question, Soedol answered immediately while bowing his head.
"That is correct, sir. As you can see when looking at the cattle, aren't they covered in dung? If done incorrectly, one can contract dung poison."
"I understand the dung poison, but why do that to the needles?"
"When we first administered the cowpox needle, there was one with severe ringworm. After needling that fellow, we used the same needle on another, and the ringworm transferred. Since then, we boil the needles after one use, and we also clean them with cotton cloth that has been boiled and thoroughly dried before using."
"I see."
At Soedol's words, the Jeong nodded and recorded the relevant details. Hyang, who was watching this from the side, sprinkled some MSG (metaphorically).
"May I add a few words?"
"We will listen with washed ears to His Highness the Crown Prince's words."
"I've looked at some Western medical texts. They were compilations of knowledge from military physicians of a great empire called Rome."
At Hyang's words, the Jeong dipped his brush in ink and prepared to write. It was famous that the Crown Prince had numerous valuable medical texts that they did not have. They wanted to see those medical texts, but there was not a single physician bold enough to ask the Crown Prince to bring them out, or even to borrow them. While everyone was just sucking their fingers, Hyang himself spoke up, so they couldn't miss this opportunity.
"In that medical text... it says, 'All tools used in treating patients must be boiled in water and then wiped with clean cotton cloth before being used for the next patient. All cotton cloth used to bandage patients' wounds or to cover and remove must be boiled and washed after one use, then thoroughly dried in strong sunlight before use.'"
"...thoroughly dried before use."
"Ah! And to add another part, 'Physicians must always keep their hands clean when touching patients. When touching another patient after touching one, one must wash hands cleanly and wipe with clean cotton cloth. When treating patients' wounds, one must clean the wound area with alcohol.'"
"...must clean. Will this really have an effect?"
"According to the person who recorded that medical text, there is a definite effect. Therefore, there should be no harm in us using the same method."
"We will deeply consider His Highness the Crown Prince's words."
The Jeong answered while bowing his head at Hyang's words.
The physicians who saw the documents recorded after hearing Hyang's words were divided into two opinions.
"Being clean is good, but isn't this too excessive?"
"No. Having experienced it, I know that recovery was considerably faster when the cotton cloth and needles were clean."
"Can we really trust the Western barbarians' medical skills?"
"They are also people who work hard to save lives. There seems to be no need to unconditionally deny them."
The physicians, who were divided and arguing, eventually reached a tentative agreement.
-First, since His Highness the Crown Prince has spoken, we will prepare as much as possible and check the results on site.
While the physicians of the Naeuiwon were making such decisions, Hyang was sorting through books filled with Latin while whistling softly.
"I sprinkled a little MSG, but the Eastern Roman Empire's medical texts were unexpected."
Quite a few of the Western books brought in through the envoys were medical texts from the Eastern Roman Empire. However, what was surprising was that while many books in other fields had been translated into Chinese, the medical texts had almost no translation work done. And the reason was written at the end of a Chinese translation that was barely found.
-Western medicine does not consider the mutual generation and restriction of the Five Elements when using medicinal materials, and when treating external injuries as well as internal injuries, they do not fear using knives, so their methods are extremely radical. Therefore, there is no need to take interest in Western medicine.
Hyang, who read the sentence that outright declared this, burst into a chuckle.
"Let's see in 500 years."
Contrary to the Chinese evaluation, Hyang rated the Eastern Roman Empire's medical texts quite highly.
"The level is higher than expected. Is it because they're descendants of the Roman Empire?"
What particularly caught Hyang's interest were books on public hygiene. Looking through books filled with content like the installation of water and sewage systems and urban composition to prevent fires, Hyang muttered softly.
"Since Hanyang's urban area is still incomplete... should I try a SimCity approach?"
Considering that in actual history, Munjong had reorganized Hanyang's urban area when he was Crown Prince, it was truly an amazing coincidence.
"That said..."
Hyang muttered while examining the books filling the room.
The Western books obtained by the envoys were quite diverse, and the quantity was not small. Additionally, the amount of Confucian classics was not small, so Hyang had converted one of the Donggungjeon's rooms into a library. Bookshelves were built along all four walls of the room, and a large desk and chair were placed in the center.
What Hyang was curious about was that there were so many Western books in China. Considering the size of the Chinese continent, the books in that room were certainly only a fraction.
"To be precise, even though there are that many books, it doesn't seem like they had a major impact on China's industry or science and technology."
Hyang, who was pondering 'why is that?', recalled the book review of the medical text he had read before.
"Is it the pride of the Middle Kingdom?"
Hyang's assumption became certain when those who had gone as envoys to the winter solstice returned.
"These are new ones excluding those on the book list you gave me."
The Minister of Taxation, who had received Hyang's request, had newly obtained books amounting to three large wooden chests.
"Quite a lot. You've worked hard."
"Not at all."
"Looking at the amount of books, it seems the Ming Dynasty has Islamic believers steadily coming in?"
"Although they say there is still exchange south of the Yangtze River, there is no open exchange."
"Yet there are many books."
"Most are things that Ming Dynasty collectors are bringing out."
"Why would collectors bring them out?"
"Ming is doing its utmost to remove the remnants of Yuan."
At the Minister of Taxation's explanation, Hyang nodded.
"Is that so? You've worked hard."
After seeing off the Minister of Taxation, Hyang muttered softly while looking at the books contained in the wooden chests.
"As expected, it wasn't from zero base."
-The explosive growth during King Sejong's reign didn't fall from the sky! It was the result of absorbing as much as possible the technologies that flowed out during the Yuan-Ming transition period! The problem is that it all crashed after that.
Hyang kept nodding while recalling Teacher Samcheonpo's words.
* * *
Around the time the winter solstice envoys returned from Ming, the preparation process for cowpox vaccination targeting the royal palace and Hanseong residents was also entering its final stages.
"Check properly whether all preparations are going well!"
"We have confirmed twice for every item."
"We'll be able to finish before the spring poverty period, right?"
At the Naeuiwon Jeong's question, the physician nodded.
"We can finish!"
"Then I need to report to the Minister."
* * *
"We can definitely finish before the spring poverty period, right?"
"The physicians are confident."
At the Jeong's answer, the Minister of Personnel stroked his beard.
"Understood. Then I will report to His Majesty."
* * *
"We must not forget that vaccination must definitely be completed before the spring poverty period."
Sejong, who received the report from the Minister of Personnel, gave a similar command. At Sejong's command, the Minister of Personnel bowed his head.
"We will devote our entire heart and strength to this."
< Chapter 22: Sprouting... Carcinogenesis? (15) > End
ⓒ Gukppong