Chapter 19 Harm of Lead Poisoning
Chapter 19 Harm of Lead Poisoning
"What's wrong, Your Majesty?"
Li Shizhen, who was waiting for Zhu Zaigui to hand over the prescription, was also hesitant because of Zhu Zaigui's hesitation at this moment.
Zhu Zaigui calmed himself down, suppressed his speculation and handed the recipe for Anshen Decoction to Li Shizhen.
Zhu Zaigui said: "Nothing, I am just curious about the effect of Dan Lead."
Li Shizhen carefully took the prescription handed over by Zhu Zaigui, and then replied: "Your Highness, lead dan can detoxify and calm nerves, and it has the effect of calming the nerves. It is effective as a medicine for calming the nerves. But don't take too much, it may hurt your heart and stomach."
Zhu Zaigui looked at Li Shizhen's serious expression and began to speculate in his heart that it seemed that Doctor Li's understanding of lead poisoning was still very superficial.
But thinking about the root cause carefully, Zhu Zaigui felt that it was not Li Shizhen's fault.
After all, what was the basic science of the Ming Dynasty? All technologies, whether medicine or craftsmanship, were empirical sciences that were explored time and time again. Due to the limitations of science and technology, the in-depth research on materials and principles has always been in the fog and unable to explore the essence.
Therefore, it is understandable that Li Shizhen did not have enough knowledge about lead poisoning.
But Zhu Zaigui couldn't let it go so easily.
Zhu Zaigui said quietly, "I wonder if Doctor Li has ever heard of an ancient country in the far west called Daqin, which rose during the Han Dynasty and spanned tens of thousands of miles. It was no less powerful than any country in the Central Plains. However, such a prosperous country collapsed after a few hundred years and then split into countless small countries. It is still caught in a melee among the countries. Do you know why this country collapsed to this extent and why it is no longer prosperous?"
Li Shizhen was also confused when he heard Zhu Zaigui's words. The Great Qin Kingdom in the far west seemed to be just a legend during the Han Dynasty. As for what it was like, no one knew the situation. So how could Li Shizhen know why it collapsed?
Gao Gong, who was standing by, also showed a thoughtful expression. As a scholar of the Hanlin Academy, Gao Gong was naturally well-read and had some impression of the Qin Kingdom in the far west.
After all, Emperor Jiajing was also a unique emperor. In his early years, Emperor Jiajing issued an edict to recopy the "Yongle Encyclopedia". As a scholar of the Hanlin Academy, Gao Gong naturally could not avoid this grand cultural feat.
Therefore, during this experience, Gao Gong's horizons were greatly broadened by this ancient book which was written more than a hundred years ago, and he realized the meaning of "there is always someone better than you".
Therefore, Gao Gong knew more about the legends of the ancient Qin Dynasty in the far west.
Gao Gong stood aside and replied: "I know about the Great Qin Kingdom in the Far West. Some time ago, I and my colleagues in the Hanlin Academy were ordered to re-copy the Yongle Encyclopedia. I was fortunate to read the magnificent masterpiece of the Chengzu Dynasty and learned more about the history of the Far West. I think the reason why the Great Qin Kingdom in the Far West collapsed is due to three reasons:"
"First, the ruler of the Far West Qin was a devout believer in religion, which weakened the kingship. Second, the king of the Far West Qin was cruel and merciless, and regarded marriage between close relatives as promiscuity, which led to the collapse of rituals and music. Third, the Far West Qin was vast and had different laws, and failed to follow the example of the Central Plains, with a unified national script, unified wheel gauges, and unified weights and measures, which led to a lack of people's support."
Gao Gong's summary is very accurate, and it is a relatively objective comment on the decline of the Roman Empire from a historical perspective. There is nothing wrong with this comment being placed within the framework of history.
But is the truth of history really as simple as what is said in the text? If it is really that simple, why do we need to continue archaeological dialectics and further explore the historical truth?
Today's simple written records cannot give a complete picture of history.
True history still requires multi-dimensional understanding and discovery to uncover the mysterious veil of history! Li Shizhen was also enlightened when he heard Gao Gong's words. He never expected that the legendary Great Qin Kingdom in the far west really existed.
At this time, Zhu Zaigui also said: "Mr. Gao is right. Although the Great Qin in the Far West has a territory of thousands of miles, it has not established rituals and completely relies on the Western Pope to educate it. This is one of the root causes of its collapse. However, what I want to talk about today is not on these three points."
"As far as I know, the royal family of the Far West Great Qin Kingdom all like to use lead vessels to brew wine and eat. They also love sweet things. The wine brewed with lead vessels has a bright color and can extend the shelf life, so the people of the Far West Great Qin at that time generally used this method to brew wine. And because lead vessels boil acetic acid with a certain sweetness, the nobles at that time used this method to make candied food Sapa and sweet drinks."
"Although this method is good, it is very deadly! The lead ingested by noble women is enough to cause them to be infertile, have miscarriages, stillbirths or premature births, and the premature babies often suffer from mental retardation and die early. In addition, the nobles of the Far West Qin Dynasty have the custom of marrying their close relatives, which also means that many of their descendants are lead-poisoned, causing their children to have varying degrees of defects in physical fitness and innate intelligence."
"Such a reckless way of eating lead would have made the Far West Qin Dynasty collapse. Now that I see that this lead elixir is the main ingredient in the tranquilizing soup I drink every day, you can imagine how frightened I am!"
After Zhu Zaigui said this, whether it was Li Shizhen, Gao Gong, or Meng Chong who was standing beside him, they were all stunned by the story Zhu Zaigui told.
They had only heard about the history of the Far West and had not actually studied it in depth.
After all, the Far West is too far away!
At that time, the eunuch Zheng He was ordered by Emperor Chengzu to sail to the West to spread the country's power among all nations. It took three or four years to travel between the Far West and the Ming Dynasty.
Such a long distance is even farther than the ends of the earth for the people of the Ming Dynasty.
Therefore, the people of the Ming Dynasty only paid attention to the Far West as a topic of conversation after dinner, and did not really take it seriously.
Now Zhu Zaigui actually revealed such a secret thing about the country of Great Qin in the far west, which could not but shock the people present.
Li Shizhen immediately bowed in fear and said, "Your Majesty, please punish me. I am not a good doctor and failed to discover the harm of lead poisoning, which caused Your Majesty to suffer. I deserve to die!"
Zhu Zaigui looked at the frightened Li Shizhen, then he smiled warmly and helped Li Shizhen up.
Zhu Zaigui said, "Ignorance is not a crime. When Shennong tasted hundreds of herbs, he could not clearly identify the principles of each medicine. Doctor Li is the Shennong of the modern era to me. In the future, he will travel all over the world, read thousands of herbal books, and compile a world-class classic for my Ming Dynasty! So how can I blame you? I only hope that when Doctor Li travels all over the world in the future, he can keep his original intention, verify it again and again with a heart of studying things, and clarify the pharmacology of the world's herbal books. This is the best response of Doctor Li to the world."
When Li Shizhen heard Zhu Zaigui's expectations for him again, his heart was extremely excited. He wished he could make the journey right away, travel all over the world, emulate Shennong, taste all kinds of herbs, and compile a peerless medical book for the Ming Dynasty that could serve as a guideline for future generations!
(End of this chapter)