Kunning Palace.
Zhu Yuanzhang was sitting behind the desk reading a book. Hearing the announcement from the chamberlain, he nodded and then looked at Queen Ma who was holding a charcoal basin.
Zhu Biao and Gu Zhengchen came in and saluted respectfully.
Zhu Yuanzhang raised his hand in vain and said calmly: "What I am preparing for today is a family banquet, so there is no need for so many etiquettes."
Gu Zhengchen frowned slightly, raised his hands and asked: "Your Majesty, since it is a family banquet, is it inappropriate for me to be here..."
Zhu Yuanzhang snorted from his nose and said with a cold face: "Why, I am rich all over the world, all the people in the world are my subjects, and the queen is the mother of the world. Why can't you stay at the family banquet?"
Hearing this tone, Gu Zhengchen always felt that something was wrong. He had the feeling that Lao Zhu wanted to clean up himself...
Empress Ma wiped her hands, stood up and walked towards Gu Zhengchen, looked at her carefully, and said gently: "From robbing children to judge people, to eating to magistrate the county, to hunting tigers to magistrate the county, Baitang Juren, although this is my first time to see you, But I have heard your name from time to time in the past six months. His Majesty said that you are a talented person, and the Prince said that you have extraordinary wisdom. Now that I see you, you are indeed extraordinary."
Gu Zhengchen glanced at Queen Ma and quickly lowered his head and said, "There is nothing extraordinary about him. He is just an ordinary person among the countless people of the Ming Dynasty. Fortunately, His Majesty favored him and the Crown Prince cherished him, so he got here."
Queen Ma was even more satisfied when she saw that Gu Zhengchen was grateful: "You have a deep friendship with Biao'er and Mu Ying and have close contact with each other. I have already regarded you as my nephew. Don't be restrained in this palace. Come and sit down and talk."
Gu Zhengchen felt that Queen Ma was full of kindness and kindness. She seemed to care for everyone she met.
Nephew?
Gives people a sense of stability and intimacy.
But why is this Kunning Palace so cold? When Gu Zhengchen looked at the charcoal basin, he couldn't help but ask: "Your Majesty, I remember that there is a new stove, why is it not used here?"
Zhu Yuanzhang laughed and did not explain.
Empress Ma sat back, put her hands on the charcoal basin to grill, and said softly: "Initially, a new stove was installed in Kunning Palace, but that thing eats coal too fast, and as many as four briquettes are consumed in a day and night. , it’s really a bit wasteful, I thought, this charcoal basin is more economical, so I had it dismantled.”
"Demolished?"
Gu Zhengchen was a little shocked.
Zhu Biao was a little depressed. Originally, there were twelve new stoves installed in the East Palace. The palace was warm in the winter, and there was no need to shiver when he and the princess took off their clothes at night.
But the queen mother was frugal, and as the prince, she had to follow suit, so she had to drastically reduce the number of new stoves in the palace from twelve to three, leaving one in the study and two in the palace for herself and the princess.
Gu Zhengchen saluted Queen Ma solemnly: "Queen's frugality is a good deed. However, foreign ministers have some different opinions. I wonder if the Queen is willing to listen to it?"
"I know you have a quick mind, let's talk about it."
Queen Ma's voice was very kind.
Gu Zhengchen looked at Zhu Yuanzhang and saw that he had no objection, so he said bluntly: "The queen practices frugality and cherishes material resources. This is a good thing. She is just lighting a charcoal basin to keep warm. Has the queen ever thought that this thing is fatal?"
Zhu Yuanzhang's expression suddenly changed and he stood up suddenly.
Empress Ma was stunned for a moment, looked at the charcoal basin, and smiled at Gu Zhengchen: "You shouldn't be very good at this. After all, there are maids and eunuchs on duty in the palace. There are always people watching, so that you don't get distracted."
Gu Zhengchen shook his head and said seriously: "What I said is not that the charcoal basin caused the fire, but that the charcoal fire in the charcoal basin is not fully burned and will release a toxic gas. Once this gas is inhaled into the body, It will cause poisoning, which can range from headaches, dizziness, tinnitus, dizziness, nausea, and limb weakness to severe cases of loss of consciousness, or even - coma, with no way to save yourself!"
"So serious?"
Zhu Yuanzhang asked nervously.
Queen Ma looked a little unnatural.
Gu Zhengchen replied seriously: "Your Majesty, Queen, people among the common people often die from the poison of charcoal fire. I think that the Queen's original intention of saving is good, but such saving is irresponsible to the world, and to the prince, Your Majesty is irresponsible and not responsible for yourself! Therefore, I advise you to hope that the queen will install a new stove in the palace."
Zhu Yuanzhang thought of something and said quickly: "Sister, you said you were a little dizzy a few days ago. Maybe you were poisoned by the charcoal fire. Someone, please take this charcoal basin out and order someone to reinstall a new stove."
Seeing this, Empress Ma could no longer object, so she could only look at Gu Zhengchen: "Is what you said true?"
Gu Zhengchen nodded heavily: "It's absolutely true! In winter, the room is airtight and the airflow is not smooth. The poisonous gas from the charcoal fire always stays in the room and invades the body between breaths. Over time, it is easy to cause accidents. I designed a new stove in Jurong for In addition to keeping warm, it can also discharge the poison of charcoal fire without harming the human body."
Zhu Yuanzhang waved his sleeves, as if to drive away the poisonous gas: "I remembered that a few days ago, the Ministry of Punishment reported a case, saying that the deceased was uninjured and died on the bed. There were no signs of breaking in the house. The charcoal fire has been extinguished. The Ministry of Punishment suspected that someone was poisoned, and now it seems that he was poisoned by the charcoal fire. Sister, don’t be so careless in the future. "
Empress Ma was convinced and said to Zhu Yuanzhang: "This is a knowledgeable official. You should make good use of him."
Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and was noncommittal.
When Queen Ma saw this, she didn't say much and just arranged for the palace guests to have dinner.
Gu Zhengchen's eyes suddenly lit up when he saw a fish being served. Queen Ma explained at the side: "I heard that you like to eat fish, and His Majesty specially asked Guanglu Temple to prepare it."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
Gu Zhengchen quickly expressed his stance.
Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand, arranged to sit down, picked up his chopsticks, took two bites, and said with full satisfaction: "Gu Zhengchen, I heard that you are not married yet, can you ask me to choose a large family for you?"
Gu Zhengchen was agitated and declined politely: "Your Majesty governs state affairs and takes care of all matters every day. I really don't bother Your Majesty to ask about the minor matters of your Majesty."
Zhu Yuanzhang seemed to just say it, and then said: "You are still young and don't have children yet. Do you know? I love my children very much, and I will do anything for them!"
Gu Zhengchen didn't know why Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly said these things. He didn't offend Zhu Dalang or bully Zhu Xiaosi. Why did it sound like he was inciting an army to investigate?
Zhu Yuanzhang laughed and said with some pride: "A few days ago, I issued an edict to reward each son with an additional one hundred hectares of land. In the future, my descendants will never go hungry or beg. They will have fields, tenants, food, and live a decent life for generations to come. I will never allow the days of fighting dogs for food to happen to future generations! Now there are people writing a letter to object, haha, what do you think? Did I do something wrong?"
Gu Zhengchen heard the murderous words and replied directly without thinking: "Your Majesty is wise!"
