Chapter 35: Pursuing Hidden Value for Collection

  New book uploaded, seeking collection and recommendation

  Chapter 34 has been deleted due to the presence of hand-holding scenes. The content was about Zhu Jishi and Madame Du Lan holding hands on the bed, discussing European bedroom politics. In real history, European politics have always had a tradition of political marriages and courtesan politics. The British Lord Palmerston, who initiated two wars, rose to prominence after having affairs with seven famous British courtesans, one of whom was the sister of Prime Minister Melbourne and later became his wife, of course, after cohabiting for over twenty years.

  .......

  London, Buckingham Palace.

  "Chinese? Dear Albert, you're saying that Jason's ancestors were from China? How unbelievable."

  The speaker was a petite, delicate-featured foreign girl who looked a bit plump. She was wearing a silk nightgown with exquisite patterns, holding a cup of red tea and sitting on the edge of the bed, gazing at the handsome young man sitting on the sofa opposite her with an adoring and slightly worshipful look in her eyes, just like a fan girl.

  This little chubby girl, um, is not an ordinary person! In fact, she is the current monarch of the British Empire, Queen Victoria! And that young man called "dear Albert" by the queen is the uncrowned king of the British Empire, Prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria.

  Everyone close to the Buckingham Palace knows that their queen is extremely devoted to her husband, listening to him and following his advice. Prince Albert often attends meetings between the Queen and ministers, providing various suggestions to the Queen, helping her handle state affairs, and frequently issuing decrees in the Queen's name to ministers, commenting on or suggesting national affairs. It is not an exaggeration to call him the uncrowned king of the British Empire or the King behind the scenes.

  "Alexandrine," said Prince Albert, laying down the newspaper and laughing in German to his wife, "the latest issue of the Rheinische Zeitung says that this Jessen Chow is indeed a Chinese. I think he must be the cleverest of all Chinese - no, of all Mongolians! The method of blood transfusion, bacterial staining, bacterial culture, and various methods of disinfection and sterilization are each an important scientific discovery or invention. But I think his most remarkable contribution is in the prevention of puerperal fever and cesarean section surgery."

  The Queen took a sip of red tea, stroking her large belly - the Queen was almost 7 months pregnant. Her marriage to Prince Albert was undoubtedly very sweet, and the sweet marital life had turned the Queen into a child-bearing machine, having been pregnant three times in the past three years, giving birth to a princess and a prince, and now carrying a third child in her womb. In history, this queen gave birth to 9 children with Prince Albert, and it is said that she also gave birth to a daughter with her later lover and servant John Brown. Given the average mortality rate of women in childbirth or puerperal fever at the time, which was around ten percent, Queen Victoria's survival to the age of 81 was truly no small miracle.

  "A cesarean section!" The queen stuck out her tongue, "That must be so painful! I couldn't bear it..."

  "It is possible to use anesthesia, and this Jason Zhu also invented salt morphine and diethyl morphine, which are two very effective anesthetics that can minimize the pain of surgery." Albert looked at his wife with affection, "In addition, there are British doctors experimenting with ** as a surgical anesthetic, I think by the time our third child is born, the problem of surgical anesthesia will definitely be solved."

  "Hydromorphone and dihydrocodeine?" The queen frowned, "Aren't they just derivatives of **?"

  "Ah, my dear, don't underestimate these two derivatives. The Royal Medical Society says that their significance in medicine cannot be overstated! In fact, many of the medicines on the market today contain either morphine or codeine... basically, all pain-relieving and discomfort-relieving medications have morphine as an ingredient. And the efficacy of this morphine salt is ten times that of morphine! The diethyl morphine is thirty times that of morphine! Moreover, both morphine salt and diethyl morphine have good water solubility, and after processing, they can be used directly as injections under the skin, which will greatly enhance the anesthetic effect!"

  The queen nodded, "Hmmm, so to speak, these two anesthetics can be used for pain relief in surgical operations. Shouldn't the military be equipped with some?"

  "It's not just surgical anesthesia, dear. Don't you understand? The emergence of morphine hydrochloride and diethyl morphine will completely eliminate other painkillers from the European market! And because their efficacy is even more miraculous, the manufactured drugs will inevitably be extremely popular, with prices that are even higher, and profits that are even more substantial..."

  "Will be replaced?" The queen nervously rotated the teacup in her hand, her eyes fixed on him, "Wait a minute, dear Albert, you said that the patent rights of hydrochloride morphine and diethyl morphine are in the hands of this Chinese person?"

  Prince Albert nodded heavily and said, "With these two patents, he can control all the medicines that contain hydrochloride of morphine and diethylmorphine! In other words, he will monopolize the European pharmaceutical market!"

  "Monopolize the European pharmaceutical market? Dear Albert, you can't be serious?"

  The British Queen looked at Dr. Bluntschli in surprise. This was a bit too sensational, although no one knew how big the European pharmaceutical market was. But one thing was certain, this was definitely a huge deal! Just like wearing clothes, getting sick is an inevitable part of life for everyone, and when you're sick, you need to take medicine! How many people are there in Europe now? It seems that it has already exceeded 300 million! If each European spends an average of one shilling on medicine per year, that's a market of nearly ￡30 million per year!

  In fact, Europeans spend more than ￡300 million on medicines every year, possibly as much as ￡900 million, which is roughly the same as Britain's annual revenue. A market of this size would be impossible for one person to monopolize, let alone control even a tenth of it.

  "Alexandrina! I'm not joking, Jason Zhu's assistant has just sent a bulletin to the Royal Medical Society. Sir Reed told me that Jason Zhu has discovered in his experiment that a drug called berberine hydrochloride has an extremely strong antibacterial effect, capable of killing Vibrio cholerae, Staphylococcus aureus and Mycobacterium tuberculosis..."

  "Cholera bacillus? Tubercle bacillus?" The Queen of England, though not a medical expert, could also understand what these two bacteria were from the literal meaning. She took a deep breath and looked at Prince Albert, "Are they the pathogens that cause cholera and pulmonary tuberculosis?"

  "That's right! There is also a kind of Staphylococcus aureus that is the main culprit behind puerperal fever!"

  Tuberculosis, cholera, puerperal fever... If we were to evaluate the top ten fatal diseases in Europe during this era, these three would definitely be among them! If they could be cured with some sort of atropine sulfate, just think of the market - it would probably be worth several hundred million or even over a billion pounds per year!

  "Who holds the patent for atropine sulfate?"

  "It has also been grasped by Jason Zhu!" Prince Albert looked at the British Queen with a serious expression: "Alexandrina, the French Academy of Sciences has already sent an invitation letter to Jason Zhu, preparing to elect him as a member of the French Academy of Sciences!"

  "Academician of the Academy! A Chinese? The British Queen thought for a moment and suddenly realized it was not right, heavily emphasizing her tone, saying in a deep voice: "No! Can't let this Chinese be lured away by France! Otherwise, the entire European pharmaceutical market will be monopolized by France!"

  "Yes, and all Europe will brand us as fools who do not respect science!" Prince Albert's face showed a hint of anger, clearly aimed at the London courts and the Royal Medical Society.

  "But... how can we keep this Chinese person in Britain?"

  Prince Albert raised an eyebrow, "Isn't he just a member of the Academy of Sciences? We also have the Royal Society, and we can elect him as a fellow of the Royal Society at the annual election in March."

  The queen nodded, the number of members of the British Royal Society is not fixed, and the total number is several times that of the French Academy. Each year, four foreign members can be added, giving Zhu Zhi a reversal is nothing.

  "Besides," Prince Albert continued, "we can also award him the Copley Medal, and even make him a baronet."

  "From Baron? A Chinese man? Dear Albert, you can't be serious?"

  "What's wrong with that? My dear Alexandrina, I recall several Indians having been created baronets of the British Empire; why should not a Chinaman receive this honour?"

  Victoria fell silent for a moment, shaking her head. "Isn't he just a scientist with a few patents? Is it worth our while to go to such great lengths to win him over? And besides, he's Chinese! China has just been at war with us!"

  Prince Albert furrowed his brow, "It's precisely because China has just fought a war with us that this Chinese-blooded great scientist is even more worth our recruitment! Alexandrina, can't you see the potential value of this Chinese scientist?"

  "Potential value?"

  "You mean..."

  "Alexandrina, do you still remember Napoleon's prophecy?" Prince Albert's countenance gradually darkened.