Chapter 160: Chapter 133: Will This Place Become the Capital of Traditional Chinese Medicine?

Saturday.

Lu Jiu closed the clinic for a day.

Because today he was going to attend a lecture by Huang Fusheng, the master.

His companion was also Lu Mountain.

Opportunities to listen to top Chinese medicine practitioners in the country are rare, so Lu Mountain certainly couldn’t miss it.

Just yesterday, his eldest son kept reminding him to help Lu Jiu, hoping he could catch the eye of the National Master of Chinese Medicine, and it would be even better to become an apprentice.

Lu Mountain also thought this was feasible, and with Lu Jiu’s current level, he was undoubtedly impressive enough for a National Master of Chinese Medicine.

Therefore, last night he also talked with Lu Jiu for a while, telling him that even some of the Lu Family’s great ancestors had once apprenticed under various masters, learning from their strengths, before finally becoming masters of their generation.

Secluding oneself is not impossible, but having a good teacher can help avoid many detours, which is undeniable.

Lu Jiu was not opposed to this; he didn’t think that having a system meant he could forgo learning or communicating. If such an opportunity arose, he certainly wouldn’t refuse, but he also wouldn’t actively pursue it.

Everything would just happen as it would.

At 7:30, Jingjun Restaurant.

Third floor, main conference hall.

A small venue capable of accommodating over a thousand people, already filled with quite a few attendees.

After checking in and registering, Lu Jiu and his grandfather entered the hall, looking for their seats.

It wasn’t hard to notice that many attendees didn’t have the local accent; they were likely outsiders who had come upon hearing the news.

“President Mu, you came too?”

“Oh, Dean Liu, you’re here as well?”

“Haha, it’s not easy to attend a lecture by Elder Huang; I also wanted to learn a thing or two. What about you, President Mu? I heard Elder Huang is going to set up a medicinal herb base in Jianghan. Are you perhaps involved too?”

“Aren’t we all here to seek opportunities? Elder Huang is benevolent, and I want to offer what little I can as a token of gratitude for his life-saving grace back then.”

“Sigh, it’s unknown if Elder Huang’s medicinal herb base will be effective. Many medicinal herbs in the country are now exorbitantly priced, making it tough for us Chinese medicine practitioners.”

“That’s why a market economy requires macro-regulation, or else capital will leave us with nothing.”

“Let’s hope Elder Huang can turn the tide.”

“…”

Row 11, Seat 15.

Lu Jiu found his and his grandfather’s seats and sat down. Not long after, a particularly familiar figure suddenly appeared in the front row.

“Tang Yi?”

Tang Yi turned and saw Lu Jiu, smiling immediately, “Brother Lu, what a coincidence! We’re so close; I was about to ask you on WeChat, but I was worried you were busy and didn’t sign up, so I didn’t.”

Lu Jiu smiled, “No matter how busy, a National Master’s lecture is a must-see.”

Tang Yi nodded, “Indeed.”

As they were chatting, several others joined Tang Yi, and one young man gave Lu Jiu a slightly disdainful glance.

Lu Jiu found the man somewhat familiar, as though he was the Chinese medicine practitioner who had used Ten Points of Blood technique to save someone in the park before.

“Oh, Dr. Lu, fancy meeting you here.” Ji Yuanning, seeing Lu Jiu so close by, couldn’t help but greet him.

“Director Ji,” Lu Jiu replied with a smile.

Tang Yi noticed they knew each other and was slightly surprised.

“Allow me to introduce: this is Mr. Yuan Qing, Mr. Yuan Sr. from our Traditional Chinese Medicine department; Elder Sun Tongfu; and Mr. Zhang Caiyou, Mr. Zhang Sr. These two young men are known to you, Tang Yi, I gather, the other is Li Wei, trained in traditional Chinese medicine, a young backbone in our department, quite skilled,” Ji Yuanning said with a smile.

Li Wei.

Seeing the other had already sat down, facing away from him, Lu Jiu didn’t bother and instead engaged in conversation with the other old masters.

One of whom, Sun Tongfu, appeared to know his grandfather Lu Mountain. They seemed to have crossed paths in their younger years and, upon reuniting, had endless things to discuss.

Lu Jiu swapped seats with the old master, allowing the two to chat freely, while he sat next to Tang Yi.

“Brother Lu, I came across your video again the day before yesterday, where you hit the wall with your back. It’s already got seventy to eighty thousand likes, even more popular than your previous videos,” Tang Yi remarked with a smile.

“Haha, really?” Lu Jiu showed little interest.

“Have any outsiders come to Jianghan seeking your treatment these days?” Tang Yi asked.

“Doesn’t seem so,” Lu Jiu replied.

“Oh, then they haven’t arrived yet. Many people online are asking for your address, so they’ll probably come in a few days,” Tang Yi said.

“Hmm,” Lu Jiu replied.

For Lu Jiu, it doesn’t matter where you’re from, as long as you come to see him, he will take a look.

“Brother Lu, how’s that breast cancer metastasized to lung cancer patient doing recently?” Tang Yi asked.

Hmm?

Li Wei, sitting on the other side of Tang Yi, twitched his ear.

He seemed to have heard the word “cancer.”

“Not bad, she’s able to eat and sleep, doesn’t cough much anymore, and her chest pain has alleviated. I can only try to maintain her basic living conditions, not much more I can do,” Lu Jiu said.

Tang Yi’s eyes lit up, “That’s already quite impressive. It’s rare for cancer cells to metastasize and allow someone to live out their life peacefully. Most are bedridden with tubes all over or sent home to waste away waiting to die. The fact that you can get her to live like a normal person is amazing.”

Wow!

Really?

Makes a breast cancer with lung metastasis patient live normally.

Are these two putting on a show for my benefit?

Tsk～

Li Wei suddenly remembered.

When he previously showed videos to Tang Yi, he acted like he didn’t know Lu Jiu. Now he’s all chummy and calling him brother.

So he must have been pretending before, and has definitely told Lu Jiu about my disdain for him?

Sure enough, what my mentor said is true, the workplace is fraught with deceit.

These two are absolutely doing this on purpose for me to hear.

Ha, do you really think hearing this will make me jump up to argue with you?

Ridiculous!

Pretending to do what? Pretending to cure cancer, it’s simply not worth responding to.

Li Wei’s lips curled into a disdainful smile, looking straight ahead, completely uninterested in Tang Yi and Lu Jiu’s conversation.

Lu Jiu and Tang Yi were unaware of Li Wei’s change in mindset, they continued their casual chat.

“Brother Lu, I heard that Elder Huang’s visit this time is not just about setting up a medicinal herbs base in Jianghan, but also to make our Experimental Primary School a pilot school for integrating Chinese medicine into primary and secondary schools. This lecture should be to announce these things,” Tang Yi, who heard a bit from Ji Yuanning yesterday, wasn’t entirely sure. “What exactly is this medicinal herbs base for, just for growing some herbs? But Chinese medicine requires authentic herbs, and the only authentic herb Jianghan can claim is Pinellia. Are they stockpiling Pinellia?”

Lu Jiu shook his head, “You should be aware that in the past one or two years, the prices of some Chinese medicinal herbs have been fluctuating a lot, right?”

Tang Yi nodded.

Lu Jiu continued, “Generally, there are three factors that cause significant price fluctuations: policy, supply and demand, and capital.”

“Although the country has started to place importance on Chinese medicine, there’s still no corresponding policy to drive up the prices. The supply and demand haven’t seen much growth yet. Although production has decreased these past three years, many herbs have tripled or quadrupled in price, which is clearly abnormal. The only factor causing the rise in prices is capital control.”

“Since it’s capital control, the faster the prices rise, the quicker they’ll fall. This might not affect us significantly, but if these price surges happen several times a year, the ones most affected will be the farmers and merchants.”

“Such an unstable market makes farmers abandon cultivation, and merchants give up sales, leading to the market being controlled by a few big players. Then, they dictate the prices of medicinal herbs.”

“I think Elder Huang’s herb base is meant to counter these speculative funds, just like when our country built grain storages to contend with the world’s Four Major Grain Traders. Back then, we weren’t crushed by those bandits, and now we certainly won’t be either.”

Back then, the Four Major Grain Traders, led by Emperor Ying, were almost invincible in the world grain market, their only defeat was on Huaxia’s vast land.

This grain war made the world realize Huaxia’s macro-control power in a market economy.

Now, as Chinese medicinal herbs are targeted, there’s no need for the nation to take action, someone has already stepped up.

“Elder Huang truly deserves to be called the National Master of Chinese Medicine, his vision is truly lofty!” Tang Yi said.

“This won’t be easy to achieve, and it might be difficult for Elder Huang and his team to handle it alone. But if it works, it’ll undoubtedly be a wake-up call for those capitalists trying to control the prices of Chinese medicinal herbs,” Lu Jiu said.

Lu Jiu believed that with Jianghan being chosen for the herb base, and Chinese medicine going into primary and secondary schools here, Jianghan City has clearly become a pilot city for Chinese medicine cultivation.

From the national perspective, there’s surely more than one pilot city, meaning teams like Elder Huang’s are scattered across various cities, all working together, similar to the poverty alleviation efforts!

In this way, while promoting Chinese medicine, the nation simultaneously addresses the issues with medicinal herbs.

Lu Jiu recently also saw news about rural doctors, seemingly the country is also encouraging medical university students to work in grassroots areas, offering positions upon arrival.

This, combined with Elder Huang’s efforts, clearly indicates a multi-pronged approach to developing Chinese medicine.

Thinking of this, Lu Jiu looked forward to what Jianghan City’s future would be like.

In ten years, could it become the capital of Chinese medicine?

Lu Jiu shook his head, feeling he was being a bit unrealistic.

With the Four Major Pharmaceutical Cities, Hui’an Prefecture Bo, Beihe Guo’an, camphora officinarum, Nanhe State Yu, Jianghan, even given ten more years, couldn’t become the capital of Chinese medicine.

Soon, as more people filled the conference hall, someone holding a microphone walked to the center stage.

“I think today’s occasion doesn’t need much of an introduction, right? Everyone here is a friend from the medical community, and you’ve probably had some understanding beforehand. The lecture formally starts at 8:30, there are still five minutes left, please take your seats, Elder Huang is ready backstage…”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep