Zheng Yulin gave the thirteen of them their first assignment: identifying medicinal herbs.
"The General Herbal Compendium is the first subject a physician must study, and the most important."
"After observing, listening, questioning, and taking the pulse comes prescribing the right medicine."
"If you can master the properties, uses, and combinations of every medicinal herb under heaven, you can call yourself a master physician."
No one was surprised by the assignment.
Materia Medica ranked first among the six branches. None of the other five could claim to be entirely independent of the Herbal Medicine Branch.
"I know you all have some foundation, but reading medical texts is one thing. Using medicine in practice is another."
"Even the examinations for officials always include questions from the General Herbal Compendium."
Zheng Yulin looked at someone standing in front of Zhao Xing and called his name. "Lin Ziwu."
"Present." Lin Ziwu immediately stepped out and saluted with cupped hands.
"I hear you have a remarkable memory. Do you know how many kinds of medicinal plants are recorded in the General Herbal Compendium?"
Lin Ziwu considered the question. "My lord, according to the latest edition issued by the Imperial Medical Office in the tenth year of the Great Governance Era, it records nearly 1.2 million kinds of medicinal plants."
"And that's only the General Herbal Compendium. Add animal and mineral medicines, and there are tens of thousands more."
Zheng Yulin smiled and nodded. "How many can you remember?"
"Over a hundred thousand," Lin Ziwu replied confidently.
The others turned to stare and exclaimed in surprise.
Even Zhao Xing saw him in a new light.
After all, Zhao Xing himself had memorized only a little over ten thousand.
But he had been at it for less than half a year. Lin Ziwu had probably been