When the ship on which Fang Yizhi and his entourage arrived in Zhongdu, Zhu Mingzhong, as the emperor, did not review the folds all night as outsiders imagined.

In fact, even in the past Ming system, there was no need for a diligent emperor, after all, since the Ming Dynasty set up a cabinet, especially after Emperor Sejong promoted the cabinet to the top of the six ministries, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty has also been given some degree of freedom - delegating power to the cabinet, and those professional political officials are responsible for general affairs, as for the emperor...... Just like a supervisor, you only need to be generous, and you don't need to do it yourself.

In fact, this mechanism has been running extremely well, at least until Chongzhen personally wanted to personally solve all the affairs of the Ming Dynasty, this mechanism can make the emperor of the Ming Dynasty not go to court for decades, and can make the emperor indulge in affairs such as Lian Dan and carpenters, without worrying about state affairs. It's not because they're mediocre, but they only need to master two points, one is to use people, and the other is to direction.

As an emperor, he has done everything himself, and he is not necessarily a virtuous monarch. Not only do you not have that energy, but it's also hard to get a mask. Therefore, as an emperor, you must learn to delegate power, of course, this delegation of power must be well controlled and balanced.

However, it is precisely because of this that Zhu Mingzhong can be busy, have his own time, can go out on patrol in micro-clothes, ignore the government for a few days, and even build a summer resort in Haizhou to avoid the boredom of summer, of course, at that time, the ministers of the court also have to accompany - according to Zhu Mingzhong's plan, in the summer months, Haizhou's Huangcun is not only a summer palace, but also another administrative center of the Ming Dynasty.

But more often than not, the existence of the cabinet gave Zhu Mingzhong time to do some things that interested him, from writing various physical books from memory to conducting various experiments. Even now, in the palace, he has a laboratory of his own.

"Cold soak the powder first...... Add 95% ethanol to remove insoluble matter,,"

During the experiment, Zhu Mingzhong would keep making records, and at this time, the test room was filled with a fresh smell of herbs, but it was also mixed with some pungent smell, but this smell made him feel extremely kind.

It's the smell of gasoline!

For anyone from the 21st century, this smell will make him feel relatable, and even though in the 21st century, the smell is disgusting, polluting, and unhealthy, but in this day and age, it is so intimate.

Gasoline here is not even easy to come by, after all, it is the oil that is first transported from the Middle East by merchant ships in wooden barrels, and then extracted to get this gasoline, so it is extremely expensive. In the past experiments, Zhu Mingzhong has used up several barrels of gasoline, worth hundreds of taels, which is almost equal to one liter of oil and one tael of silver if you have to calculate the price.

But even if it is such a waste, Zhu Mingzhong is still continuing this experiment, after all, this experiment is directly related to the great cause of "Nanyang Fuman".

“…… Reduced pressure concentration into extract ......"

Can I get crystallization?

Zhu Mingzhong's eyes stared at the liquid in the glass, with a hint of expectation in his expression, this is already the first test?

The 316th!

However, the results of each test are not satisfactory, and although crystallization is obtained, there will be some problems in drug testing.

Gasoline leaching requires a process, and while waiting, Zhu Mingzhong picked up an artemisia annua again, and then looked at it and said to himself.

"The most suitable area for planting Artemisia annua is in Guangxi, because the artemisinin content of wild Artemisia annua in Guangxi is the highest, Guizhou and Hubei should be okay, and further north is not good, how much mentioned in that paper, it seems that after crossing the Yangtze River, there is no value for extraction......"

The distribution of plants in nature is so magical, according to a paper I once read, the artemisinin content in Artemisia annua has a great relationship with economy and latitude, that is, the artemisinin content of Artemisinin in Artemisia annua grown in China's subtropical monsoon climate zone is higher.

Artemisinin content is higher in the southern low latitudes, while artemisinin levels are lower in the northern high latitudes, even less than 0.1% in many areas. Areas with higher levels of artemisinin happen to be the most endemic areas for malaria.

"Could it be that everything has a cause and effect in the dark?"

Although he said so, Zhu Mingzhong did not believe in the so-called "providence", let alone the distribution of Artemisia annua, which was to treat malaria, and did not believe in any "Artemisia annua grasp, stained with two liters of water, wrenched juice, and served as much as possible", because the artemisinin obtained in this way is extremely limited, even because the artemisinin content in wild artemisia annua is very limited, and the content in each region is very different to make it work.

In fact, in the past few years, Zhu Mingzhong also instructed the army to use Ge Hong's book "Elbow Reserve Emergency Prescription" in the Eastern Jin Dynasty to record: "Artemisia annua is grasped, two liters of water is stained, the juice is wrenched, and the malaria is taken as much as possible", which has both successful examples, but more failures.

Because of this, malaria is still an incurable disease, and even Zhu Mingzhong himself has to face its threat, as for the few artemisinin tablets he brought at the beginning, they have long since passed, that is, after being infected with malaria, he can barely give it a try.

As for the cinchona tree...... That kind of tree is far away in the Americas, and there are many types of cinchona trees, because the quinine content in the bark of different species is also very different, and I don't know how many years it will take to figure out which tree has a high quinine content.

Because of this, compared with the introduction of cinchona trees from the Americas, Zhu Mingzhong chose a more effective method in his opinion - the extraction of artemisinin.

In fact, the process of extracting artemisinin is not complicated, and among all the extraction processes, the yield and content obtained by the gasoline reflux extraction method are the highest, which is also the main method for extracting artemisinin in the 21st century. The technology is to use low-boiling gasoline as a solvent and repeatedly leach. Compared with the process of quenching plant alkali, there is no complication, but there are many problems in actual operation, even as early as last year, under the guidance of Zhu Mingzhong, the teachers and students of Qinghe Academy used imported opium to extract morphine, although morphine has only taken one year from the preparation to the present, but morphine has been used as an analgesic in the army, and is used in surgery.

However, compared with the extraction of morphine, the extraction of artemisinin has encountered some problems, the most critical difference is that artemisinin is extracted with gasoline, and the different quenching processes directly determine that its extraction process is more complex and more difficult, and it is precisely because of this that he has carried out hundreds of tests, and the results of the tests are not ideal.

"There has always been some progress, at least from the drugs prepared from artemisinin crystallization that have been obtained so far, the success rate has reached half......"

Looking at the other report on the table, it was the results of the treatment trial in Qinghe Hospital, which was also a joke, from Zhu Mingzhong set up a medical department in the academy six years ago, and began to spread some medical treatment, especially surgical techniques in later generations, through the medical school, and the corresponding hospital was later established by the academy, and the hospital was charitable and free, where students practiced with patients...... This kind of student takes illness from practice, even in the 21st century, but in the 21st century, there is no charge.

At least compared to the students of the European medical schools in the 19th century, the teachers and students in Qinghe Hospital have already mastered a lot of experience that human beings have paid for thousands of lives, and in the simplest terms, the students in the academy know that before surgery, they must wash their hands with bleach and soap, and all instruments and bandages must be sterilized at high temperatures. The preoperative sterilization steps of surgery are already the minimum common sense that Daming surgeons have mastered. But in Europe today, even until the mid-19th century, European doctors called them doctors more like butchers, and they even wore butcher aprons, which were covered in blood, and the same was true of the instruments, and the reason for that was to prove that he was very experienced.

The experience of killing pigs!

Compared with his European counterparts, Daming is now far ahead of Europe, whether it is internal medicine based on traditional Chinese medicine or surgery with a golden finger prescribed by Zhu Mingzhong. However, due to the limitations of the times, many diseases that can be easily treated in later generations are often still incurable in this era, such as malaria.

In fact, the comprehensive conquest of Southeast Asia by Europe was also after the 19th century, until the discovery of quinine, human beings overcame malaria, so that the white people were able to defeat the land scattered on various islands and not be affected by malaria in the war.

Prior to this, compared to direct conquest, Dutch and Spanish rule did not spread to the whole of the East Indies or the Philippines, but was limited to a few cities and the surrounding areas.

Only by solving the plague of disease can we gain a foothold there, and more importantly, immigrants can take root there, rather than dying in large numbers from diseases. What's more, artemisinin can be used to strengthen the ties between the Ming and the vassal states for a long time to come, and can even be used as a weapon...... It's like tea and Tibet, and Mongolia.

Of course, the premise is that artemisinin must be extracted to make its effect more significant. This is also a problem that Zhu Mingzhong needs to solve now.

The night was very dark, and for Zhu Mingzhong in the laboratory, this night was just the beginning......