An international medical exchange delegation was coming to Feng City?

Dean Song quickly understood the reason why.

In the last two years, Feng City’s Ding’s Pharmaceutical Factory had emerged as a dark horse in the field of traditional Chinese medicine. Many of the patent medicines it produced were bestsellers worldwide, earning it international acclaim.

Perhaps it was precisely the international influence of Ding’s Pharmaceutical Factory that had attracted the attention of this medical delegation.

He continued reading the notice.

Sure enough, the notice from the Health Bureau explicitly stated that besides the academic exchange at the Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, the delegation also hoped to tour Ding’s Pharmaceutical Factory and have an in-depth discussion with the renowned Doctor Li Xu.

The City Health Commission took this matter very seriously and had held a special meeting to discuss it.

After all, this involved international influence. If anything went wrong, they would face immense pressure.

After finishing the notice, Dean Song personally called Li Xu to inform him of the matter. He also expressed his hope that Li Xu would come to the City Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine to participate in the exchange during the delegation’s visit.

Li Xu was also quite interested in Japan’s Kampo medicine. He was especially curious to learn about its current state of development and unique characteristics, so he readily agreed.

At almost the same time, Ding Kaifang also called Li Xu.

"Doctor Li, the City Health Commission has notified me. They said the international exchange delegation wants to tour our Ding’s Pharmaceutical Factory. What do you think? Should we let them visit?"

Li Xu fell into thought.

’I don’t want the international delegation to tour the factory,’ he thought, ’especially a delegation that includes people from Japan. They have a terrible track record in this regard.’

For instance, there was the case of a Japanese delegation visiting Ansteel in the 1970s.

During the tour, a Japanese expert noticed the reflective quality of the slag at Ansteel’s entrance and suspected it contained incompletely refined metal elements.

The Japanese team then focused on studying slag samples, even secretly taking some back to Japan.

After this was reported to ZL, he immediately ordered the slag from both Ansteel and Panzhihua Steel to be sealed off to prevent technology leaks.

Most of the medicines produced by Ding’s Pharmaceutical Factory were built on his unique technological barriers and core formulas.

If the Japanese delegation were allowed to tour the factory, they would very likely seize the opportunity to steal technology, or even reverse-engineer the formulas for Ding’s Pharmaceutical’s products.

"President Ding, please refuse the City Health Commission’s request. We won’t be accepting visitors."

Li Xu had made his decision. "The Japanese have a terrible track record with technology. Our medicines have technological barriers, and we can’t give them a single opportunity. The best way is to not let them into the factory at all, cutting off any possible risk of a technology leak."

Ding Kaifang’s heart skipped a beat when he heard this.

He’d had the same concerns.

Right now, the pharmaceutical factory was the most profitable company under the Ding Group.

There could be no mistakes.

"Alright, Doctor Li, I understand. I’ll reply to the City Health Commission right away. I’ll tell them our factory is undergoing equipment upgrades and isn’t open for public tours."

...

Meanwhile, in Tokyo, Yamada and his group were preparing to leave for Feng City.

"Mr. Yamada, why are we going to the Feng City Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine first?"

Dr. Caballo, who was from Africa, couldn’t help but ask.

He didn’t quite understand Yamada’s decision.

In his experience, an international medical exchange delegation like theirs would typically choose to visit large, national or provincial-level hospitals for exchanges. Feng City was just a third-tier city, its influence far from that of major medical centers.

Yamada was a professor at the Tokyo University Affiliated Hospital and the leader of this delegation.

Japan’s modern medicine was quite advanced. As early as the Meiji Restoration, the Japanese government had stipulated that only those who studied Western medicine could obtain a medical license, which allowed Japan to integrate into the great tide of modern medicine much earlier.

Yamada was fifty-two years old and held a certain degree of influence internationally.

Furthermore, his mentor was the vice president of the World Association for Emergency Medicine.

In comparison, the experts from the Arab and African regions were mostly doctors from medically assisted areas, and their overall medical proficiency was much lower.

As the team leader, Yamada felt the need to help everyone gain a clearer understanding of medicine.

Yamada smiled faintly and explained, "The Feng City Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine is a very unique hospital."

He paused, his tone carrying a hint of deeper meaning. "It’s a hospital that combines traditional Chinese medical techniques with modern medicine. Although it may not be in its prime right now, there is still a great deal of value to be learned and referenced from it."

As an international exchange team, they had no trouble communicating in English.

However, Yamada would certainly not tell the others that the main goal of his trip was actually Li Xu.

Li Xu had his own clinic, but it was impossible for an international medical delegation to directly engage with a small clinic. That would make their objective far too obvious.

They had found out that Li Xu was also a specially appointed expert at the Feng City Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, which was why they had set their sights on it.

Yamada had privately researched products from Ding’s Pharmaceutical Factory like the Mao Duddu Eye Drops, Dragon Bone Powder, Watermelon Frost, Calming Pill, and True Martial Pill. Each one was remarkably effective. The more he researched, the more shocked he became, and his interest in Li Xu grew immensely.

In Japan, traditional Chinese medicine is known as Kampo medicine.

In fact, the Japanese government did not actively encourage or develop Kampo medicine on a national level. After the Meiji Restoration, only those who studied Western medicine could obtain a medical license, which drove Kampo medicine into the hands of private practitioners.

As a result, many medical students could only choose to study Western medicine.

As for Kampo medicine, regulations stipulated that it could only be studied after one had already obtained a medical license, which undoubtedly raised the barrier to entry. And as everyone knows, the future for a medical student in Japan is incredibly bright.

However, there was a deep-seated reverence for traditional Chinese medicine among the Japanese public, which gave rise to a huge demand for Kampo Medicine.

Therefore, after 2001, the government added a clause to the teaching syllabus for Japan’s medical departments stating that graduates should be "able to explain Kampo Medicine." This led medical schools to introduce some courses on the subject.

This was an important measure regarding traditional Chinese medicine in Japan, and it was also a signal.

Their core ideology was to "abolish the theory, verify the medicine." They believed that the theories of traditional Chinese medicine—which they saw as esoteric sorcery based on yin-yang and the eight trigrams, lacking support from anatomy or physiology—should be abolished.

However, Chinese medicines and other medical techniques that were proven effective would be accepted after being standardized and scientifically validated.

This is what formed the unique "Kampo medicine" of modern Japan.

However, Chinese medicine originates from the theories of TCM. After losing its foundation, can one truly learn the essence of traditional Chinese medicine?

Ultimately, Japan is a country that has been profoundly influenced by Chinese culture.

Within the Japan Medical Association, a new society emerged, called the "Han Medical Association."

It was not called the "Kampo Association," but the "Han Medical Association." This subtly revealed the nuanced attitude that some of Kampo medicine’s most ardent supporters held toward traditional Chinese medicine.