Volume 2 Chapter 24: Return to the City (Part 2)
Mr. Wang said he could do alchemy, which is very interesting.
"Which gold are you good at?" Emperor Zhao laughed dryly. He didn't understand for a moment and thought that he was pretending to be profound. "Is it the gold of the golden spear or the gold of the Jin army? The gold of the golden spear means that you have new weapons to offer? The gold of the Jin army means that you have a strategy to deal with the Jin people? Whatever it is, please tell me and I will reward you generously."
When Mr. Wang heard the official's words, he was a little at a loss.
At this time, Wang Shuzhan, the Minister of the Imperial Household, may have felt that the emperor was a little confused, so he took the initiative to explain: "I, the Minister of the Imperial Household, Wang Shuzhan, would like to inform you that I have personally seen that this Hermit Wang can use a special method to turn cinnabar into gold, and it is indeed real gold... I think that during the Jingkang period, the Jin people were greedy and violent, and took all the gold and silver in Tokyo and abandoned copper coins. Now it is not just Nanyang, but all parts of the world are short of gold and silver. If Hermit Wang can make good use of them and promote them, it will be enough to benefit the world."
Emperor Zhao was silent for a moment, and no one knew what he was thinking, but he didn't utter any curse.
However, on the other side, several ministers and important officials all reacted... Lu Haowen turned pale with embarrassment; Yuwen Xuzhong covered his face and turned away; Xu Jingheng was almost about to get furious, but he held it back after taking a look at Lu Haowen and Wang Shuzhan, two colleagues with whom he worked closely on a daily basis; Wang Boyan was calm, after all, it was a joke made by the East Palace across the street, the emperor had returned from a great victory today, the Privy Council had made contributions and had no faults, so he was happy to watch the fun.
Zhang Jun, the Minister of State, who was ranked below the four ministers and whose status was considered half-prime minister, also reacted quickly. He immediately turned his head and stared at Li Guang and Hu Yin who were standing beside him. It was obvious that he wanted the two palace censors to see the situation clearly and not cause trouble. If they wanted to impeach them, they had to wait until they returned.
In other words, from Emperor Zhao down, all the wise people have woken up.
However, in this kind of situation, those who understand it truly understand it, and those who believe it truly believe it. Just as Emperor Zhao and several other officials were so annoyed by the drama that they did not want to talk, under the urging and encouragement of Wang Shuzhan, the Minister of the Ministry of Rites, Mr. Wang reluctantly began to demonstrate in public.
He saw a bunch of bottles and jars and stoves being carried up, and then Mr. Wang actually started to roast cinnabar in the closed furnace to get mercury... Emperor Zhao came to his senses and wanted to kill someone, but he also knew that with the level of technology at that time, the old man and Uncle Wang did not deserve the death penalty, and might not even be guilty; he wanted to kick over someone's alchemical equipment, but he had to remember that mercury vapor is highly toxic; and more importantly, this was a ceremony prepared by Lu Haowen with good intentions, and all the civil and military officials and at least the specially selected talents from western Beijing and Lianghuai were watching with curiosity. He had to give some dignity to the innocent Prime Minister Lu and the Song Dynasty, which already had little face!
To put it bluntly, it is difficult to popularize science at this time.
With this thought in mind, Emperor Zhao could only ask Feng Yi to move the chair he had sent back, and then ask everyone except Uncle Wang and Mr. Wang to stay away.
The sun was slightly setting in the west, but Emperor Zhao had already guessed this man's method by following his steps - burn cinnabar to produce mercury, and then use some sleight of hand to secretly put objects containing gold ore or even ready-made gold foil into it, dissolve the gold with mercury, and finally use distillation to evaporate the mercury, and gold will naturally come out.
The counterintuitive thing here is that these days it is difficult for almost everyone to understand how gold, which represents the greatest stability, can be dissolved by mercury, a liquid that can be directly evaporated... and in the traditional Eastern feudal era, apart from alchemists pursuing immortality, let alone coming into contact with liquid mercury and gold at the same time, even mercury itself was generally only produced mysteriously by these people, and then commonly used for mysterious purposes such as burials.
In fact, seeing this Hermit Wang pouring clean mercury into a clean white porcelain basin, and then putting it into a special pottery with a strange tube to distill it, and finally taking out the mercury and gold, the gentlemen were all shaken! As for Feng Yi and Yang Yizhong, no matter how clever, smart, and sophisticated they were on weekdays, they were also overwhelmed by such things... These eunuchs and generals were in a trance, and their eyes could not leave the gold and utensils.
At the same time, Zhao Guanjia felt that he had encountered the most insulting thing in his life. When he just went to college, he was asked to pay ten yuan by an aunt with a child at the train station. This was ridiculous... But for the sake of the overall situation, he couldn't expose it!
Because Mr. Wang was just in the process of smelting, the emperor had already discussed the matter through Lu Haowen and Xu Jingheng, the prime minister who secretly passed the note, and decided on the final outcome of the matter.
"Come here, give Mr. Wang ten pieces of silk and ten stones of grain as a reward. Also give him these objects, together with the gold and this... what?" Emperor Zhao forced himself to swallow the word mercury, but pointed at the bottle of liquid and looked at Wang Shuzhan.
"Spiritual liquid." Wang Taichang, who was more knowledgeable, quickly gave the emperor some scientific knowledge.
"Oh, spiritual fluid." Zhao Jiu suddenly realized, but finally said the word again in a stern voice. "All these utensils, gold, and spiritual fluid, sink them all into the White River with me! I would rather perish my country than use such fake things to deceive the world!"
The people around were unable to react in time.
Xu Jingheng, on the other hand, stepped out immediately and said solemnly, "Your Majesty's move is truly a magnanimous one!"
"Mr. Xu." The Minister of the Ministry of Rites was terrified and puzzled for a moment. It seemed that it was not fake. "This is real gold!"
"Who is the gold for?" Xu Jingheng turned his head and said coldly. "Is it used to pay the army or to reward the ministers? I don't know whether this gold is real or fake, but no matter whether it is real or fake, as long as the emperor accepts these objects today, will people in the world still trust the gold given by the emperor in the future?"
Uncle Wang was speechless.
"As for Mr. Wang, he can receive the reward and return to his hometown to live." Zhao Jiu continued to give orders with a stern face, not leaving any time for the ministers.
"Yang Yizhong, what are you doing ?!" Wang Boyan knew that the emperor still wanted to protect Lu Haowen this time, so he immediately became serious, but pointed at Yang Yizhong who was still confused and scolded him repeatedly. "As the commander of the imperial guards, didn't you hear the emperor's order?!"
Yang Yizhong responded hurriedly and was about to go forward to throw those things away.
"Those jars should be smashed first and then thrown away." The official sighed again. "As for Wang Taichang, since you recommended him, you should escort this Mr. Wang back!"
Yang Zhengfu and Wang Taichang were both helpless. The former quickly snatched a hammer from Ban Zhi and smashed the things in front of the emperor and all the officials, while the latter could only pull the distressed Wang Chushi to bow and express his gratitude with sweat on his forehead.
And for some reason, all the officials around and the talented people from western Beijing and Lianghuai who came to watch the scene breathed a sigh of relief when they saw this scene.
Up to this point, the farce came and went in a hurry. Emperor Zhao sighed, but he forced himself to comfort all the officials and the talented people from western Beijing and Huaibei who he met for the first time. He agreed to hold a public palace selection in a few days, and then he rode back to the city.
However, after entering the city and the palace, all the officials dispersed, but Emperor Zhao could not avoid being busy again. First, he asked Scholar Xiaolin to convey his imperial decree to comfort Lu Haowen with kind words, and then he asked the eunuchs to reward the Huangmei wine sent from the southeast to the ministers, close ministers, generals of the imperial camp, and of course Han Shizhong and Li Yanxian who had recently communicated with him.
That’s not all. After these people left, the chief escort Lan Gui came back to report again.
Only then did Zhao Jiu realize that Nanyang had been quite lively these days. Not only were there those who came to apply for the election, but also because Nanyang was stable and had food, fodder, money, and troops, more and more random people had gathered in Nanyang in recent times... As the chief escort, Lan Gui naturally had to tell him about some of the people and events that had a greater impact on the palace and the city of Nanyang.
For Emperor Zhao, some of them were pure nonsense, but some were hard to forget.
"Su Shi's grandchildren are here?" Zhao Jiu was stunned. "To ask for the restoration of their grandfather's reputation?"
"Yes." Lan Gui said carefully.
Zhao Jiu frowned slightly...Su Shi was labeled a member of the Yuanyou Party by Cai Jing, so of course he needed to be rehabilitated, but someone was definitely trying to create momentum by bringing him out at this time, because this matter was also one of the notes he left for Lu Haowen and others before he left.
Of course, just like those who deliberately created momentum thought, Emperor Zhao had no reason not to rehabilitate him, even if it was just for the sake of the name Su Shi. The great scholar Su was a god-like figure, not just a mere Song... I just don't know who is so anxious?
"I understand." Zhao Jiu said casually. "Anything else?"
"Recently, Ms. Yi An and her husband, the Minister of Rites Zhao Mingcheng, have been divorcing in private. Many people say that this is due to the harshness of the emperor." Lan Gui continued to report in a low voice cautiously.
"It's okay if you 're mean." Zhao Jiu had been marching for half a day and then tossed around in the west of the city for a while, so he was already quite exhausted. He didn't care . "Isn't it just that I borrowed a few more poems from Yi An Jushi? It makes me seem like I was deliberately mocking Zhao Mingcheng... When this is over, remember to reward Yi An Jushi in my name to express my gratitude."
Lan Gui wanted to say something but stopped himself, and in the end he said nothing more.
When Lan Gui left, Feng Yi came up again: "Your Majesty, the most outstanding painter in the former Tokyo Palace, Ma Xingzu, has been found in Nanyang. His father, Ma Ben, died in the Jingkang period. Your Majesty has a rule in the palace that does not allow anyone to be appointed without permission..."
"If he is originally from the palace, you can just keep him under control." Zhao Jiu heard a lot of nonsense, but probably because he understood that it was a court painter who came, he became less and less concerned.
"Several imperial doctors also arrived after hearing the news." Feng Yi continued to speak softly. "I am in charge of the pharmacy, and I have decided to stay here on my own initiative."
Zhao Jiu suddenly became serious: "Is there anyone burning cinnabar among them? I'm telling you clearly, whoever dares to apply cinnabar on this broken house of mine will be sent to Jiaozhou!"
"Yes..." Feng Yi hurriedly responded, but then quickly explained. "Don't worry, Your Majesty, the people here are all experts in their specialties, and there are no ridiculous people like today. For example, Peng Shi is good at pediatrics; and Wang Jixian is good at men's and gynecology..."
Zhao Jiu nodded slowly, but felt something was wrong: "In this case, these two should be sent to Yangzhou, right?"
Feng Yi bowed his head and said nothing.
Emperor Zhao was stunned for only a moment before he suddenly realized what was going on. He looked around the hall again, pointed at one of them and sneered, "I said I wanted someone who could dress in military uniform and serve me, and you came here without permission?"
Hearing this, Lan Gui, Yang Yizhong, Feng Yi, and the man pointed at by the official, who was the "armored soldier" who had been holding the wine and had followed them all the way, knelt down together.
Confused and at a loss, Liu Yan could only kneel down.
"Your Majesty," Feng Yi took the initiative to explain as soon as he knelt down. "It is not that we are trying to guess your intentions without permission. After the last time, I corresponded with several old guards in Yangzhou and mentioned this matter. Naturally, the matter was reported to the Queen Mother and Madam Pan. The Queen Mother and Madam Pan also summoned the palace maids to personally ask if there are any old people from the Kangwang Mansion who can wear armor and ride horses and are willing to come here to serve the emperor... That's why Madam Wu took the initiative to volunteer, and then she arrived in Nanyang two days ago."
Zhao Jiu was slightly startled: "Is this Madam Wu an old acquaintance of the palace?"
"yes!"
"What does the Queen Mother mean?"
"Yes." Feng Yi looked up and told the story. "The emperor didn't remember what happened after he fell into the well... This lady Wu was born in the Wu family of Tokyo Pearl. She studied since she was young. Three years ago, when she was fourteen years old, she entered the palace as a maid because of her intelligence and wealth. During the Jingkang Rebellion, it was the empress dowager who summoned the remaining people in the palace to her side, so Lady Wu has been accompanying her all the time. It was for this reason that the emperor remotely conferred the title of Lady of the County after he ascended the throne, giving Lady Wu an official status... However, it was also because of this that after Lady Pan left Shunchang Mansion, no one served the emperor along the way."
Zhao Jiu thought for a long time, but found that he had no reason to refuse this person again... and why should he refuse this time?
Not only that, the armored lady raised her head and took a peek, and was facing Emperor Zhao. As expected, she was about seventeen or eighteen years old, at the most beautiful age for a woman. And since she was selected into the palace at the age of fourteen, she was naturally pretty and beautiful. If you have to find some faults, it is probably that she was born in a rich family since she was a child, and she is probably well-nourished. Her skeleton has grown bigger in the past two years, which is a bit inconsistent with the aesthetics of the scholars and officials of this era for women. However, this is not a problem for Zhao Jiu. In his eyes, the other party wearing iron armor at this time did not affect her movements at all, but instead had a different kind of charm in her posture... In fact, if it were not for this, Emperor Zhao would not have recognized this "How can I tell whether I am a man or a woman" at a glance before on the Baihe River in the east of the city.
With this thought in mind, Emperor Zhao looked around again and found that in addition to the eunuchs, even Yang Yizhong seemed to have been rewarded with a wife. In addition, he was really tired, so he yawned and tried to tell Feng Yi:
"Since this is the case, this will not happen again!"
After saying this, she no longer mentioned the issue of the gynecologist or pediatrician, but instead stood up and went to the back of the hall.
Naturally, Miss Wu quickly followed with her sword in hand.
Upon seeing this, everyone in the hall stood up together. Lan Gui and Liu Yan seemed to be thinking about something, Feng Yi smiled without saying anything, but Yang Yi Zhong had a blank expression on his face, without any of the smooth and graceful demeanor he usually had when they were together in private.
