Rebirth 1977 Great Era

Chapter 932 Healing the Ill, Healing the Yin-Yang, Healing the Immortal (Combined Chapter)
As soon as Fang Yan arrived at the parking lot of the Yanjing Hotel, he noticed that the security level had been raised today.

Several soldiers appeared at the entrance of Building A, the new east building, where Ma Wenying was located.

Although he was dressed as a hotel waiter, his accent immediately told you he was a soldier; his demeanor was completely different.

As soon as he got out of the car, Guan Qingwei pointed to the flagpole and said:

"They even hung up the Japanese flag."

Upon hearing this, everyone looked up and found that it was indeed the case.

Fang Yan explained to Guan Qingwei:

"With relations between the two countries warming up diplomatically, high-level diplomatic events involving negotiations on the return of cultural relics usually involve the display of our national flag alongside the flags of other countries in accordance with international practice and the experience of exchanges, in order to reflect the diplomatic etiquette of equality."

Everyone nodded in agreement; the dialect was spoken quite clearly.

At this moment, Guan Qingwei said with some concern:
"In this kind of situation, would I really say something like that? Is that... is that appropriate?"

Fang Yan chuckled and patted the naive young man on the shoulder, saying to him:
"Perfect match."

“Your role is key to the plan. The Japanese side is less wary of young scholars. By questioning them about clinical details, you can disrupt their rhythm.”

Guan Qingwei, still somewhat uneasy, asked:
"But this national flag..."

After all, they are young people who have never experienced such a situation before, and they are still not quite able to accept this kind of thing where someone smiles to your face but stabs you in the back.

Moreover, he came to see his idol, his senior, and was then conscripted without any mental preparation.

I felt a little nervous facing this scene of people from both countries meeting.

Fang Yan said to him:
"Hanging the national flag is a matter of reciprocity, but negotiations are essentially a game of interests. You are questioning an academic issue, not a diplomatic stance, which is in accordance with the rules of negotiation."

"Moreover, Professor Yue and my mentor will guarantee academic rigor. You only need to raise questions, and they will then delve into the debate."

Yue Meizhong and Jiao Shude nodded, confirming the matter once again.

At this moment, Wang Yuchuan also said:
"You're like the one who lights the cannon in a fight; once it's lit, you're out of the picture."

Hearing this, Guan Qingwei nodded as if he understood.

Although this analogy feels a bit strange, it does give me some understanding.

Is the adult world always this unpredictable and treacherous?
Jiao Shude patted his apprentice on the shoulder and said:

"Don't worry, things aren't that difficult. Just remember what your senior brother just told you, and forget everything else. Don't think about it too much."

"Okay..." Guan Qingwei felt like his mind was a complete mess.

The person in charge of reception arrived at this time.

He's an old acquaintance from the foreign affairs department, Secretary Xia who assigned courtyard houses to Fang Yan. I heard he got promoted again.

"Comrade Xia!" Fang Yan didn't know what position the other party had been promoted to, so he could only greet him like this.

Secretary Xia nodded to Fang Yan, then addressed him and the people around him:

"Director Fang, and all the professors! Hello everyone!"

"Please come in with me. People from Japanese Kampo medicine and Kyoto University are already waiting."

As he spoke, he turned to the side and gestured for everyone to enter.

Fang Yan was the first to walk over. As Professor Wang Yuchuan passed by, he asked Secretary Xia:
"Comrade Xia, are there any members of the Japanese Socialist Party inside?"

Secretary Xia said:
"Socialist Party Representative Asukada is at the State Guesthouse, where they are being received by their superiors. This side is full of people from Kampo medicine and Kyoto University."

Upon hearing this, Professor Wang Yuchuan nodded and breathed a slight sigh of relief.

The Socialist Party, especially Kazuo Asukada, belonged to the pro-China faction during that era and advocated for the normalization of Sino-Japanese relations.

If they were present, they might exert pressure on this side under the guise of "mutual friendship," demanding concessions, or requesting the early delivery of the secret formula or a weakening of their insistence on the ownership of the Yongle Encyclopedia.

As a pro-China party, the Socialist Party is likely to use the pretext of "promoting mutual cultural trust between the two sides" to demand that Japan show "sincerity," such as handing over part of the secret formula first, or even joining forces with Japanese academic groups to put pressure on Japan through public opinion.

Wang Yuchuan was worried that if he were present, Fang Yan would find it difficult to forcefully implement the strategy of "taking the sugar coating and firing the cannonballs back".

Furthermore, the negotiations are purely academic, with only traditional Chinese medicine practitioners and Kyoto University personnel present, indicating that the Japanese side limits the negotiations to "academic exchange" rather than political negotiations.

This allows the dialect project to focus on academic debates on traditional Chinese medicine theory and the authenticity of cultural relics. For example, Professor Yue Meizhong and Professor Jiao Shude questioned the classification of the "Treatise on Febrile Diseases" and Ji Yao delayed the examination time to avoid being disturbed by political issues.

With traditional Chinese medicine practitioners and scholars present, the Japanese side can control the pace by rehearsing an "academic melee" where Guan Qingwei launches attacks, others deepen their questioning, and Ji Yao stalls for time. If the Socialist Party is joined, the Japanese side may form a "political and academic united front," directly increasing the complexity of the negotiations.

After excluding interference from the Socialist Party, the negotiations returned to the core plan of "using academic confrontation to cover up the struggle for cultural relics."

Only Fang Yan seems completely unconcerned and has already taken the lead.

Wang Yuchuan shook his head, thinking that young people were still not thinking things through enough.

After entering the new east building of Block A, someone led them to the reception room on the first floor.

Secretary Xia accompanied Fang Yan and the others, seemingly as a member of the team attending the meeting.

Fang Yan wasn't new to this kind of place; he came every day, so he wasn't surprised by the surrounding decorations. The other people were all older and had seen a lot, so they were all calm and composed. Only Guan Qingwei, who had just turned eighteen, looked around and felt that everything in front of him was so new.

As they neared their destination, Guan Qingwei whispered to Fang Yan:

"Senior, well... I don't speak Japanese. Will they understand me if I speak Chinese?"

Fang Yan was taken aback, not expecting him to be worried about this.

For a moment, I was both amused and exasperated.

He explained to him:

“There are translators, and many of these people are studying traditional Chinese medicine. They might even have regional accents in their Chinese, making you think they are one of our own.”

“I see…” Guan Qingwei nodded.

At this moment, Secretary Xia looked at him curiously, and then at Fang Yan, as if she wanted Fang Yan to explain why there was such a young man in such a professional team.
Fang Yan said to him:
"He is my master Jiao Shude's newly accepted disciple, named Guan Qingwei."

Secretary Xia looked enlightened.

He said to Guan Qingwei:
"sorry!"

Guan Qingwei extended his hand:

"Hello, Comrade Xia!"

Secretary Xia was taken aback, then shook hands with him.

They treated him as someone who had come along to broaden his horizons.

Everyone knows that Jiao Shude liked to train his own disciples.

Next, they arrived at the door of a large reception room. When the two waiters saw Fang Yan and his group arrive, they nodded in greeting and then helped open the door.

As soon as the door was pushed open, the scene inside was revealed to everyone.

A long negotiating table, covered with dark green velvet, is set up in the center of the main hall, with the national flags of the two countries hanging side by side on the north wall.

Each item on the table was a blue-and-white porcelain teacup, a fountain pen, a notebook, and basic simultaneous interpretation equipment used in foreign affairs activities during that era.

The east wall displays a traditional Chinese ink painting of the Great Wall, while the west wall features a glass display case containing replicas of ancient bronze artifacts.

There were no Japanese people in the room.

"Weren't we supposed to talk at the dinner table? Why is it so formal? And where are the other people?" Wang Yuchuan asked Secretary Xia first upon seeing the scene before him.

Secretary Xia said:
"They requested that we discuss business first before having dinner, saying it was out of respect for both sides."

"The people are right next door. We, the hosts, will go in first, and then they will come in."

Professor Wang Yuchuan immediately frowned.

The original plan was to use the dinner to soften the confrontation in negotiations, making it easier to execute the dialect memorization plan, but now the Japanese are doing this.

Looking at the bigger picture, he believes that Japan's move is both a cultural habit and a strategic precaution. On the surface, it follows the cultural habit of "respecting etiquette," but at a deeper level, it is intended to limit the other side's tactical flexibility and ensure the dominant position in the negotiations.

"You came prepared!" Fang Yan said with a light laugh.

However, the more the other person acted this way, the more relaxed Fang Yan became.

This shows that the other party was clearly unsure how they would react, so they showed their guard from the beginning, fearing that something might happen that was beyond their control. Therefore, they acted as if they were trying their best to control the meeting from the start.

"Let's go," Fang Yan invited the group, appearing quite relaxed.

Everyone could feel his composure, which immediately enlivened the atmosphere.

This is China's home turf now, and no matter what the other side does, we call the shots.

Even Guan Qingwei clearly felt the change in Fang Yan's attitude, and the atmosphere of the whole team relaxed. Although he didn't understand why, he felt that he was not so nervous anymore.

Following Fang Yan into the room, he noticed a gilded peony-shaped chandelier hanging from the ceiling. It was a modified version of an international style, combining Chinese elements with international trends. The floor was covered with a soft red wool carpet.

Guan Qingwei felt guilty even for stepping on it.

A potted clivia plant was placed in the corner, a common decoration seen in newspapers at foreign affairs events. He never expected that his idol senior would bring him to such a high-end occasion on his first meeting with him. He tried hard to look around at everything, as if he wanted to memorize every detail.

I have to think about these trivial things to stay calm.

Then, everyone took their seats at the negotiating table.

There are no names here; the person sitting in the very center is today's main negotiator.

Fang Yan should have sat in the middle, but since he was going to verify the Yongle Encyclopedia later, the position was given to Professor Wang Yuchuan.

He is the Chinese medicine practitioner that the Japanese understand best, so there is no problem for him to sit here.

Then everyone lined up on both sides and took their seats.

The person on the left in the dialect is Lao Ji, and the person on the right is Guan Qingwei.

Counting from left to right, the order is: Professor Yue Meizhong, Professor Wang Yuchuan in the middle, then Professor Ren Yingqiu, Professor Jiao Shude, the president of Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Secretary Xia, and the Western doctors who came with him.

They were closer to the inside of the room.

Guan Qingwei was at the very back.

He was a bit far from his master, but there was no time to be nervous now.

As we sat down, a large door opposite the room was opened.

Soon, two waiters brought in the Japanese staff.

They outnumbered the locals, totaling sixteen people.

Leading the group is 78-year-old Keisetsu Otsuka.

He was wearing a dark kimono jacket and thick glasses, and he was the first to walk in.

After entering, he glanced around the room, his gaze lingering on Guan Qingwei, Fang Yan, and Wang Yuchuan.

Ultimately, the gaze fell upon Fang Yan. Behind him was a young assistant carrying a briefcase, or perhaps his apprentice.

She led him to the center first.

Face to face with Professor Wang Yuchuan.

Then the people behind him filed in and stood on the opposite side.

He stared intently at the Chinese group in front of him with a serious expression.

They seemed to be waiting for them to stand up and greet them politely.

Guan Qingwei glanced at Fang Yan and noticed that no one seemed inclined to get up.

Then Professor Wang Yuchuan smiled and gestured for Otsuka Keisetsu to sit down, saying:

"Mr. Otsuka, please take a seat."

Otsuka Keisetsu probably didn't expect that they really wouldn't get up, so he could only nod and then sit down first.

The other Japanese people also took their seats.

In that one encounter, the Chinese side did not proceed as they had planned.

He had originally planned to say something during their greetings, but given the current atmosphere, he had no choice but to give up.

Actually, Fang Yan and his team had already discussed contingency plans for this matter.

For example, the meeting place is not at the dinner table, but somewhere else.

They have to maintain their posture throughout the entire process.

To put it simply, although the Japanese side was a foreign guest, the essence of this negotiation was an exchange of equal interests, namely, a contest between the Yongle Encyclopedia and traditional Chinese medicine secret formulas.

They are trying to avoid weakening their negotiating position by offering excessive courtesy.

If they stand up, it might disrupt their established rhythm and weaken the deterrent effect of subsequent academic challenges from Jiao Shude, Yue Meizhong, and others.

Look at this meeting, they're already secretly scheming before it even begins.

When Guan Qingwei saw the other person sit down, he imitated the dialect, smiled, made eye contact with the person opposite him, nodded in greeting, and that was it.

"Mr. Wang, we meet again." Otsuka Keisetsu adjusted his glasses and spoke slowly in Japanese, with the translator behind him relaying the greeting to Wang Yuchuan across from him.

Wang Yuchuan nodded and said with a smile:
“Mr. Otsuka, it’s a pleasure to meet you here.”

"I remember you can speak Chinese, right? And you speak it very well."

Otsuka Keisetsu was speechless. Even if I knew how to speak, I should speak my native language in such a formal setting!
He said to Wang Yuchuan:
“Mr. Wang, in this kind of situation, we should speak our own country’s language.”

Wang Yuchuan said:
"I originally thought that everyone would chat while eating, and have a pleasant exchange in a relaxed and suitable atmosphere."

"I didn't expect Mr. Otsuka to make things like this. Now everyone is on edge, as if we're about to argue about something very important."

Fang Yan listened from the side, a look of great interest on his face.

Professor Tamagawa's approach is excellent; he first shifts the blame onto the other party, regardless of whether it's a big or small one, just put it on first.

But you have to be serious. If I get serious later, don't blame me.

“This is a very important matter, and we have come with sincerity,” said Otsuka Keisetsu to Wang Yuchuan.

He then nodded to his assistant.

The latter placed his briefcase on the table and said:
"I'll get straight to the point: we are willing to return part of the Yongle Encyclopedia, but we need you to provide a secret formula for treating idiopathic pulmonary interstitial fibrosis as a basis for mutual trust."

"After achieving this historic exchange, we can gradually discuss other exchanges and collaborations."

“Mr. Wang, trust me, I can give you many things you want. And with this cooperation, we can provide you with great assistance not only in traditional Chinese medicine and Kampo medicine, but also in biology and Western pharmaceuticals.”

"You know which party I'm with this time. Essentially, we're comrades and should help each other."

That sounds nice...

Fang Yan listened to the other person's boastful talk and began to paint a rosy picture.

In short, the future prospects are so bright that if you don't get on board now, it will be too late.

If I didn't know that the Future Socialist Party only has one seat in parliament, I would have believed it.

Meanwhile, Keisetsu Otsuka was still talking animatedly.

He didn't speak very fast, but you could tell he had been specially trained.

They have been consistently touting various future benefits.

He proposed that China and Japan "jointly conduct research on the integration of traditional Chinese and Western medicine," promising to share Kyoto University's advanced biological analysis technologies, such as cell culture and pharmacological and toxicological testing, in exchange for providing complete clinical data on a secret formula for treating pulmonary fibrosis.

Keisetsu Otsuka emphasized that this technological cooperation can "accelerate the modernization of traditional Chinese medicine."

In reality, they were trying to exchange technical barriers for the core secret formula.

Professor Wang Yuchuan had mentioned this before we came.

So when Keisetsu Otsuka spoke again, everyone present couldn't hold back anymore.

They all smiled without saying a word.

Then they proposed a "reciprocal licensing" scheme, in which the Japanese side would open up some of the patents for Kampo medicines, such as the registered patents for preparations like Daikenchu ​​Tang, in exchange for the international patent co-ownership rights to the secret formulas of this dialect, and promised that "future international market sales profits would be split 50/50".

Unfortunately, Professor Wang Yuchuan had already guessed this before.

It's to the point that you can tell what kind of poop someone is going to take just by the way they lift their butt.

That's why I brought Professor Wang Yuchuan along this time; he knows the Japanese too well.

As Professor Wang Yuchuan pointed out, the Japanese side is good at "pie-in-the-sky" negotiations, using the blueprint for cooperation to weaken the other side's vigilance against cultural plunder and technology theft.

Seeing the people on this side smiling without saying a word, if Otsuka Keisetsu hadn't been able to understand Chinese, he would have even thought there was a problem with the simultaneous interpretation.

“We have come with genuine sincerity, and we hope you will consider it carefully.” Otsuka Keisetsu bowed to show his sincerity.

Then he looked up at Wang Yuchuan and said:
“If Mr. Wang cannot make the decision, I would like to speak directly with that young man.”

As he spoke, his gaze immediately turned to Fang Yan.

Fang Yan knew it was time for him to step in.

He said:
“Mr. Otsuka, please forgive my limited knowledge, but I didn’t quite understand what you just said.”

"..." Otsuka Keisetsu felt a tightness in his chest and almost vomited blood.

I said so much, and you said you didn't understand.

Then, changing the subject in dialect, he continued:

"However, after saying so much, I can feel your sincerity."

"You must have made thorough preparations before you came."

Upon hearing the dialect spoken, Otsuka Keisetsu then said:
“Dr. Fang, I only started paying attention to your medical achievements after the Americans reported on them. They had an exchange program at Kyoto University, where the professors heard Henry Heimlich speak very highly of you.”

"After returning to China, he even described you as the 'Sputnik crisis' of Western medicine. As a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner, I feel very proud of this. It is a great victory. They have finally recognized a higher dimension of medicine. Although it was only a small crack in the door that they saw, it has already amazed them."

“You have already grasped the essence of Yin-Yang medicine in our Japanese Kampo medicine, and perhaps there are even some supernatural medical skills in it that I am unaware of.”

"I believe that if we cooperate, we will definitely be able to promote and develop traditional Chinese medicine."

This statement does not exist in traditional Chinese medicine. These so-called schools of thought actually come from the views of the ancient Japanese Kampo medicine school.

They believed that there were three schools of thought in medicine: disease-based medicine, Yin-Yang medicine, and immortal-based medicine.

The origin of medical practitioners is considered to be the earliest school of thought. In the "Zhou Li Tian Guan Zhong Zai" (The Official of Heaven and the Chief Minister of Zhou), court doctors at that time were divided into four types: dieticians, medical practitioners, ulcer doctors, and veterinarians. The "medical practitioners" here are roughly equivalent to internists.

Its characteristic is that it does not have many theoretical doctrines. It mainly uses prescriptions based on the location of the disease to achieve the goal of "removing the virus and thus curing all diseases and sufferings".

Bian Que, a famous physician from the pre-Qin period, and Zhang Zhongjing from the Eastern Han Dynasty are considered representatives of this type of physician.

At that time, the dean showed Fang Yan the information about Otsuka Keisetsu, saying that this person greatly admired Zhang Zhongjing and was proficient in clinical practice, although he believed that there were only three schools of medicine in the world: disease medicine, yin-yang medicine, and immortal medicine.

However, he repeatedly stated that only the medical practices of Bian Que and Zhongjing were the most authentic.

He upheld and promoted Zhang Zhongjing's spirit of "knowing what transgression has been committed and treating it accordingly," strongly advocating empirical testing and opposing empty talk and speculation.

Now, people say that the dialect is Yin-Yang medicine and Immortal medicine.

Whether it was veiled praise or genuine criticism, or simply because he couldn't do it himself, he was truly impressed to discover that dialect could cure idiopathic interstitial pulmonary fibrosis.

Then there's the so-called Yin-Yang medicine and immortal medicine.

Japan believes that Yin-Yang medicine originated in the Han Dynasty.

Physicians represented by Chunyu Yi, the Duke of Taicang in the Western Han Dynasty, as well as the current versions of the "Huangdi Neijing," "Shennong Bencao Jing," and "Nan Jing," which were written during that era, are considered to be representatives of this school of thought.

Its main characteristic is that it treats diseases based on the mutual generation and restraint of Yin and Yang and the Five Elements.

However, Ōtsuka Keisetsu considered it to be unrealistic "conjecture" rather than a "clear cure" targeting the disease.

Immortal doctors, also known as Taoist doctors, include prominent figures such as Ge Hong, Tao Hongjing, and Sun Simiao.

Of course, if you calculate it this way, these terms are indeed used more often in dialects.

Fang Yan picked up the conversation and said:

"Mr. Otsuka, what kind of medicine are you talking about? It doesn't seem to be a proper school of traditional Chinese medicine, does it?"

Otsuka Keisetsu said:

"Oh, that's a difference in our culture..."

Then he actually started explaining the dialect.

I explained the differences between these factions to him.

Of course, his opinion wasn't included this time.

At this moment, Guan Qingwei, who was sitting to the side, muttered:

"How come our traditional Chinese medicine has so many schools and diverse styles, but when it comes to your side it becomes just these kinds of things..."

Upon hearing this, Otsuka Keisetsu was taken aback and asked:

"What did you say?"

Guan Qingwei was also taken aback, but remembering his previous mission, he immediately slammed his hand on the table and stood up abruptly without saying a word.

PS: The basic chapter of 6000 words has been updated.

There will be an extra chapter later.

(End of this chapter)