Travels of a Female Physician in the Ming Dynasty

Ever since the palace maid was poisoned, Zhu Yuan and I seemed to have regained our original enthusiasm.

The Imperial Hospital was buzzing about our "post-operative nutritious meals," but Zhu Yuan had clearly lost interest in cooking. He kept yelling at me, "Miss Yang, hurry up and make something new! I'm getting tired of those fish soup and eggs!"

I rolled my eyes helplessly. "Are you a patient? Post-operative nutritional meals are for patients to recover from, not for you to eat every day. Besides, we just achieved some results. We can't be too impatient. We have to take it slow."

Zhu Yuan curled his lips and made a face. "Okay, then how about we improve the surgical instruments? I saw you mentioned earlier that you wanted to make the instruments more sophisticated. Why don't we give it a try?"

I nodded, having already made a plan in mind.

Although today's surgical instruments are much more sophisticated than before, some complex surgeries, such as ophthalmology and vascular suturing, still require more precise tools.

If the accuracy of these instruments can be further improved, the success rate of surgery will be greatly improved.

The next day, we started a new round of "Invention Competition".

The goal this time is to improve existing surgical instruments, especially small tools that require delicate manipulation.

Zhu Yuan and I went to the blacksmith shop first and found the old blacksmith, Master Liu, who had a hot temper but superb craftsmanship.

"Master Liu, we want to do something new this time." I said with a smile.

When Master Liu saw it was us, he immediately put down his hammer, walked over and asked, "You two again? You did a great job with the hemostat last time, what are you going to do this time? Don't make it too complicated, my old arms and legs can't handle it."

Zhu Yuan immediately approached and said with a pat on his chest, "Master Liu, this is absolutely a piece of cake! We just want you to make these small tools a little more refined, especially the blades and jaws. With your excellent craftsmanship, it will definitely be no problem!"

Master Liu glanced at him and said, "I'd like to make it more precise, but your tools are so small and complicated. If you make them any smaller, my hands will hardly be able to hold them."

I pulled a blueprint from my pocket and handed it to Master Liu. "Master Liu, we'd like to build on the existing foundation by making the blade thinner and sharper, and the jaws of the pliers tighter so we can perform more precise operations. Do you think you can give it a try?"

Master Liu took the blueprint, frowned, and began to study it carefully, muttering to himself, "This...this is really a technical job. If the blade is too thin, the iron won't be tough enough. If the pliers are too small, they'll probably break if I use too much force..."

Zhu Yuan immediately became anxious when he heard this: "What should we do? How about we change the material? Maybe some stronger iron?"

I quickly stopped him. "Don't worry. Master Liu is right. If the instrument is too small, it is indeed easy to damage. But we can consider using more durable materials, such as fine steel, or do some special treatment on the blade, such as quenching and hardening."

Master Liu was silent for a while, then finally nodded. "Okay, I'll try. But you have to give me some time. This job won't be done in a day or two."

A few days later, good news finally came from Master Liu's blacksmith shop.

"Miss Yang, I have made your stuff." Master Liu's face was tired, but there was a gleam of satisfaction in his eyes.

He carefully handed us several small and delicate surgical instruments.

I picked up a modified scalpel. The blade was as thin as a cicada's wing, and even gave off a faint glow in the sunlight.

The jaws of the hemostat on the other side are tighter, with almost no gaps, and are obviously designed for more delicate operations.

"Master Liu, you did a fantastic job this time!" I couldn't help but exclaim in admiration. "The blade and jaws are even more refined than we expected. They should be very useful during surgery!"

Zhu Yuan also came over, his eyes shining. "Oh my, this is really high-tech! The blade is so thin, can it be used? It won't break if I touch it, right?"

Master Liu rolled his eyes at him. "Don't worry, this isn't ordinary iron. I used refined steel and hardened it multiple times. Although the blade is thin, it's extremely tough and won't break easily."

I nodded, feeling excited about these new devices.

With these more sophisticated tools, many previously difficult surgeries will become more feasible, especially those that require extremely high precision, such as ophthalmic surgery and vascular suture.

In the following days, a new trend emerged in the Imperial Hospital.

This "trend" was triggered by our precision equipment.

Doctors all asked to try out these new tools, especially the imperial physicians who were good at delicate operations. They all rushed to try them out for themselves as if they had found a treasure.

"Miss Yang, this new knife is really useful!" A royal physician skilled in surgery said to me excitedly, "Before, when we were doing some delicate sutures, we always felt that the blade was not sharp enough and would easily scratch the surrounding tissue. But your new blade is extremely fine and can cut with precision. It's amazing!"

Another imperial physician couldn't help but exclaim in praise, "And these hemostatic forceps! The jaws are tighter, clamping tiny blood vessels more securely. Excessive bleeding during surgery is almost non-existent."

Zhu Yuan stood aside, grinning from ear to ear: "Hey, I told you long ago, Miss Yang's inventions never disappoint!"

Just when we thought everything was going smoothly, an unexpected surgical challenge came before us.

On this day, the Imperial Hospital received a special patient - a general from the frontier. He was seriously injured in the battle, especially his right eye was hit by a flying stone, and his eyeball was severely ruptured. He had to undergo surgery immediately.

"Miss Yang, this is your area of ​​expertise!" An imperial physician said to me while nervously gazing at the general lying on the hospital bed. "The general's injuries are extremely complex. We've never dealt with such a severe eye injury before. But if we don't treat him quickly, I'm afraid he'll lose the vision in his right eye forever."

I took one look at the patient and secretly groaned inwardly.

Eye surgery is one of the most delicate and complex surgical operations. If you are not careful, it may not only cause blindness but may even be life-threatening.

Moreover, in this era, eye surgery was almost unheard of and the chances of success were slim.

Zhu Yuan also looked a little nervous: "Miss Yang, this... are you sure?"

I took a deep breath and forced myself to calm down. "We're not completely sure, but we can't give up. If we can use new precision equipment, combined with acupuncture and medication, we might have a chance."

The atmosphere in the operating room was extremely tense.

The general has been anesthetized and is lying on the operating table.

The imperial doctors gathered in a circle, and all their eyes were on me, full of anticipation and anxiety.

I picked up the delicate scalpel, my palms slightly sweating.

Zhu Yuan stood by and silently handed me the hemostatic forceps and other tools. Although he didn't say anything, I could feel his trust and support for me.

The operation has begun.

I carefully cleaned the general's eyes, the blade gently sliding across the skin with almost no resistance.

The new scalpel was sharp and precise, making my operation smoother. I then used delicate hemostats to clamp several ruptured blood vessels, preventing further bleeding.

The imperial doctors held their breath and stared intently at every detail of the operation, as if any mistake would plunge the entire Imperial Hospital into chaos.

After a few hours, the operation was finally over.

I breathed a long sigh of relief, my forehead covered in sweat.

The eye wound has been sutured. Although the general's right eye cannot be fully recovered, at least the integrity of the eyeball has been preserved. It will take some time for his vision to recover.

"Miss Yang, you...you really did it!" Zhu Yuan looked at me in disbelief, his voice full of excitement.

The imperial doctors also showed expressions of admiration: "Miss Yang, this operation is truly a miracle! We have never seen such a delicate operation. Your medical skills are truly astonishing!"

I smiled tiredly. "This isn't my credit. It's thanks to everyone's cooperation and the help of these new machines. We just did our best."

After a few days, the general recovered well. Although his right eye vision was damaged, he was not completely blind.

This news spread quickly in the capital, and the reputation of the Imperial Hospital was greatly enhanced. Even the emperor personally issued an edict to commend us.

"Miss Yang, we really fought a great battle this time!" Zhu Yuan said excitedly, "Not only did we save the general, but we also made our surgical instruments shine!"

I smiled and nodded, my heart filled with relief.

Every breakthrough is to enable more patients to receive better treatment, and this success is not only an advancement in our technology, but also an encouragement for the future.