Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 259 The Incurable Struggle for Power and Profit (Part 1)

The fourth year of the Chongzhen reign was the year the Fushe Society rose to prominence.

This has also been the case throughout history.

In the imperial examination of the Xinwei year, countless members of the Fushe Society passed the exam.

The Fushe Society flourished from then on, becoming a force capable of influencing the imperial court.

Of course, that's just in history.

That's unlikely now.

Zhu Jue didn't take these clowns seriously, so he didn't bother with the lists of the provincial and palace examinations.

Anyway, he won't give important positions to the members of the Fuxing Society, so it doesn't matter if they're allowed to cause trouble in the outer court.

Who would have thought that these clowns would start making irresponsible remarks about politics as soon as they entered the court.

The eunuch faction is a scourge to the country and its people and must be eliminated as soon as possible.

The eunuch tax collectors are competing with the people of Jiangnan for profits, causing the entire Jiangnan region to decline. They must be brought back and severely punished.

The disaster situation in the Northwest is getting worse, and the victims are not surviving. We need to allocate money and food for disaster relief as soon as possible.

These memorials all seemed reasonable, but Zhu Jue could see through their trickery at a glance.

The Fushe Society claimed that the eunuch faction was a scourge to the country and its people and must be eliminated as soon as possible. While this seemed to be for the good of the country and its people, it was actually just a ploy to remove the few eunuch faction members who were still in power in the court.

Once these eunuchs who hold power in the outer court are eliminated, the entire outer court will once again be dominated by the Donglin Party, the Qi-Chu-Zhe Party, and their Fushe Society.

Although the members of the Fushe Society cannot yet control the power in the court, they can control those who do control the court through the exchange of benefits.

That's what they did historically.

The Fushe Society claimed that eunuch tax collectors were competing with the people in Jiangnan for profits, causing the entire Jiangnan region to decline and must be arrested and severely punished. This was ostensibly for the sake of revitalizing the industries in Jiangnan, but in reality, it was for their own selfish interests.

The Jiangnan Gentry Group no longer has many Donglin members; now, the Fushe Society represents the interests of the Jiangnan Gentry Group!
Their dismissal of the eunuch tax collectors was for their own selfish interests.

The Fushe Society claimed that the disaster situation in the Northwest was getting worse and worse, and that the victims were not surviving. They said that money and grain should be allocated for disaster relief as soon as possible. It seemed to be for the sake of the victims, but in fact it was for the sake of money and grain.

If Yang He, Yang Sichang, or even Zhang Yun were to distribute the money and grain, it would still reach the injured disaster victims. But once it entered the outer court bureaucracy, things would be different.

Officials in the outer court will surely take this opportunity to skim off the top of their own pockets, and each of them will be eating until their mouths are greasy!
These clowns keep claiming to be working for the country and its people, but all they're really doing is fighting for power and profit!

Do you think I'll fall for your tricks?
Those who truly care about the country and its people don't just talk about it all the time; they simply do it in a down-to-earth manner.

You people who keep talking about serving the country and the people are just using the excuse of serving the country and the people to fight for power and gain profit!

Zhu Jue snorted inwardly, then picked out all the memorials from the Fushe members, pushed them in front of Liu Ruoyu, and said coldly, "Ruoyu, write down the names of all those who submit these kinds of memorials."

Since you are beyond cure, then go die!
This list will become the purge list!

The Fushe Society is beyond saving, so the common people need to produce more medicine to help them.

After quickly finishing processing the memorials, he went to the Wanshou Palace.

This place should be called Wanshou Pharmaceutical by now. The signboard has been hung up, tablets have started mass production, and a lot of glass bottles for packaging have been made.

The reason he chose the more expensive glass bottles nowadays was for export.

If it's only for domestic sales, then packaging it in porcelain bottles would be sufficient.

At this time, the cost of porcelain bottles was much lower than that of glass bottles, because porcelain bottles could be directly pressed out using molds, while glass bottles could only be made by blowing bubbles by hand with the help of molds.

However, the porcelain bottles do not look as high-end and classy as the glass bottles.

Inside the pharmaceutical factory's warehouse, Zhu Jue picked up a bottle of sky-blue cold medicine, examined it closely, and nodded slightly.

The industrial level of the Ming Dynasty is now exceptionally high. Not only are the glass bottles exquisitely made, but the pills inside also look quite beautiful.

These pills are not only neatly arranged, but they also have clear lettering stamped on them, including the word "feel" and the pill number, which can be clearly seen even through the glass bottle.

The reason he ordered people to carve words and numbers on the molds was not just for aesthetics, but more importantly, to distinguish between different kinds of pills. The pills they pressed were all the same size and looked almost identical. If there were no words or numbers, it would be troublesome if someone took the wrong medicine.

The tablets are ready to be made; now we should move on to making the powder.

He thought about it carefully and then asked, "Chang Geng, is the equipment for making the granules installed?" That thing was actually just a mixer, except that it could heat while mixing.

Song Yingxing nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, the equipment for making the granules was installed last night."

Then we can start making the powder.

This powder is actually quite simple; it's just a matter of adding some sugar to solidify it into granules. The processing is similar to that of making sugar.

There's definitely no problem with them producing the powder.

The key is to look at the efficacy of the medicine.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly and then asked, "Xiao Jian, has the shop been purchased?"

This has naturally been purchased.

However, it's a bit expensive.

Zhou Jian nodded, then carefully said, "Your Majesty, I have already bought a shop of about one acre in size at the West Market. However, shops in the West Market are very expensive now. We spent a full three thousand taels to buy that shop."

So, people are starting to speculate on shop space?

The shop that originally cost less than 300 taels has been speculated to 3,000 taels in just over a year!
Forget about that for now, the drug trial is the most important thing.

Zhu Jue nodded slowly and said, "Now that the shop has been bought, quickly order the craftsmen to renovate it. Paint the walls with clean white lime powder, and paint the medicine cabinets and tables and chairs white. That's all. The key is to add more tables and chairs for patients. Add as many as you can inside."

Uh, there are only two of us!
Zhou Jian thought for a moment, then cautiously said, "Your Majesty, wouldn't we need to recruit quite a few experienced physicians?"

Of course, do you think it's just the two of you going to the doctor? How could you possibly manage?

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then explained in detail: "We definitely need to recruit more doctors to provide free medical care and medicine. Your shop will probably be packed with people, and the two of you will definitely not be able to handle it all."

Moreover, once we start providing free medical care, the doctors and pharmacies in Beijing will probably lose all their business. You can explain this to them beforehand: if they don't want to go bankrupt, then they can come and work for your store.

Not only do you need to recruit a lot of medical clients, but you also need to provide them with instructions for various over-the-counter medicines and blank ledgers. You need to arrange for someone to print the instructions for all kinds of over-the-counter medicines as soon as possible, because we need to provide as many instructions as we make bottles of medicine.

Also, you need to categorize the blank ledgers beforehand, providing one for each type of over-the-counter medicine, so they can record in detail the patient's recovery after taking the medicine. This way, we can test the efficacy of the medicine.

Uh, I have to prepare so many instructions and blank ledgers.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Jian paused for a moment before nodding repeatedly and saying, "Your Majesty, I understand."

Zhu Jue thought for a moment and then instructed, "You also need to ask the imperial physicians of the Imperial Hospital to take turns on duty. If our medicine is ineffective or not effective enough, then you need to ask the imperial physicians to prescribe medicine for the patient as soon as possible and cure the patient's illness."

For any difficult or complicated cases, the imperial physicians must examine them. If there are any cases for which we don't currently have a cure, we must explain the situation clearly and even prescribe a remedy.

Uh, do we still need to call the imperial physician?

Zhou Jian was taken aback for a moment before cautiously asking, "Your Majesty, should we also give away the medicine prescribed by the imperial physicians for free?"

They've sent away so many prepared medicines; if they didn't send away the medicine prescribed by the imperial physicians, wouldn't it be a waste to send away so many prepared medicines for nothing?

Zhu Jue nodded slowly and said, "Yes, they'll be given away for free for now. But we won't keep giving them away for free forever. Make it clear in your announcement that we're running this trial for a year, and they'll be free for that year. After that year, they won't be free anymore."

Oh, it's not always free. I knew it! How can you make money if it's always free? Even a million taels wouldn't be enough to cover the losses.

Zhou Jian nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, I understand."

Zhu Jue thought for a moment, then waved his hand and said, "Then hurry up and get ready. We must open before April, because people are most susceptible to illness when the world is frozen."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Jian and Zhou Xuan quickly bowed and took their leave.

At the end of March, Wanshou Pharmaceutical's first pharmacy actually opened.

As soon as the notice was posted, a long queue quickly formed in front of the pharmacy.

This is all because Wanshou Pharmaceutical doesn't charge people for medical treatment, and they don't even charge a penny for medicine; it's all given away for free.

The key point is that Wanshou Pharmaceutical also guarantees the efficacy of its medicines. They can cure common diseases, and even for difficult and complicated diseases that they don't have a cure for at the moment, they will prescribe medicine and fill it up for free.

Who would miss such a great opportunity? Anyone who's sick would come to see this. You can get cured for free. If you don't come, you're out of your mind.

(End of this chapter)