At various times, the late Yuan/early Ming novel Water Margin mentions medicine peddlers who attract customers with shows of arms. One such person is met by Nine Dragons Shi Jin early in the novel, and another example is Sickly Tiger Xue Yong, who is encountered by Song Jiang at the end of chapter 36. This is mentioned matter-of-factly, suggesting that it would be a familiar sight to any contemporary reader. There's no obvious connection between medicine and skill with weapons, so how did this practice get started? When did it die out?
Hi, I am sorry but I can only answer this question by stating that their is no discussion of this topic in medical literature as far as I have read.
What is in literature is the idea of using medicinals like an army, for example Zhang Jingyue in the 17th century wrote about 8 battle strategies in the Jingyue Quanshu 景岳全書 which contain formulae, Xu Dachun in 18th century wrote a small essay in 医学源流论 on using medicinals like an army.
Sorry I can't be of more help, but if you were to look for this type of information I wouldn't go searching in medical literature because I think it is highly unlikely you will find a discussion about it.