Chapter 28 2 Hours Hot Water's Home
Chapter 28: Twelve Hours Hot Water's Home
Meng Chong was full of energy. He never dreamed that his prince could really turn stone into gold and turn brown sugar into expensive snowflake candy!
Zhu Zaigui looked at Meng Chong who was carefully drying the white sugar. He also looked down and found that the sugar seemed to have a little yellow color, but this yellow color was not a big deal. Compared with the snowflake candy on the market, it was not much different, and it was even sweeter.
This means that Zhu Zaigui has successfully completed the experiment and figured out the secret of turning brown sugar into white sugar.
Zhu Zaigui said in a good mood: "After these candies are dried, put them away carefully. I will go to take a bath first."
After hearing what Zhu Zaigui said, Meng Chong nodded and said, "I will definitely protect these snowflake candies well."
Zhu Zaigui nodded, then left the small courtyard and went outside.
After Zhu Zaigui came out, he told the servants and eunuchs in the palace, "Go prepare hot water for me. I want to take a bath."
The young eunuchs quickly took action. When they saw Meng Chong, covered in mud, moving around in the palace, they had already started preparing hot water.
But what they didn't expect was that their own prince would also appear covered in mud.
So after a brief surprise, they quickly arranged for the great steward Meng to go to Zhu Zaigui's bathroom.
Zhu Zaigui couldn't help but praise the eunuchs for their efficiency, saying, "Well done. It would be great if one day I could live in a house with hot water available all day long."
Zhu Zaigui's words are a bit like a person who doesn't appreciate what he has.
As a prince of the Ming Dynasty, the treatment he enjoyed was lower than that of the emperor. Now he actually said that he wanted to live in a house with hot water 12 hours a day. How could this be possible? Unless he lived in a bathhouse, it would be difficult to achieve it with the current level of technology unless he maintained the supply of hot water every day regardless of the cost.
However, with the current financial resources of Prince Zhu Zaigui's palace, it seems not particularly easy to maintain a continuous supply of hot water for twelve hours.
After all, the prices of firewood and charcoal are still quite high in the capital, and the palace has so many people to support. If the consumption continues like this, Zhu Zaigui will have to go out begging within a month.
Therefore, Zhu Zaigui's dream of living in a house with hot water available twelve hours a day may just be a luxury.
Of course, if there is some technological progress in the future, that would not be a bad idea.
Zhu Zaigui soaked comfortably in the bathtub, washing the mud off his body.
When Zhu Zaigui looked at the bathroom again, he had already started thinking about how to modify the function of the bathroom.
As long as his white sugar could be successfully launched on the market and become a best-seller in the capital, let alone renovating the bathroom, even building another palace would not be a bad idea!
Imagining the wonderful life in the future, Zhu Zaigui couldn't help but grin.
After Zhu Zaigui finished bathing and changed into dry clothes, Gao Gong, who was appointed as the tutor in the palace, came again.
This time, Gao Gong brought with him several carefully selected notebooks. These notes were made by Gao Gong after he joined the Hanlin Academy. Almost all of them were Gao Gong's insights into the current political situation in the Ming Dynasty and his imagination of the future politics of the Ming Dynasty.
Gao Gong was not a conservative person. His governing philosophy was undoubtedly the most pioneering and forward-looking in the entire feudal dynasty.
In the original historical process, when Gao Gong served as the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, he actively promoted positive political and financial initiatives such as Altan Khan's tribute and the Longqing opening of the border, which had a far-reaching impact on the Ming Dynasty. He found a way for the Ming Dynasty, which was facing increasingly difficult financial situations, to develop stably and increase revenue.
Unfortunately, Gao Gong himself had a very hot temper and was easily offended by his colleagues, so during his tenure in the cabinet, he had many political enemies and was always targeted.
If it weren't for the deep relationship between him and Zhu Zaigui, he might have completely lost power before Longqing's death.
Gao Gong, who was still young, was full of idealism to save the Ming Dynasty from decline. So when he learned that Zhu Zaigui might be a precocious ruler, he could not wait to instill some of his political ideas into Zhu Zaigui in advance, instead of teaching Zhu Zaigui to read the Four Books and Five Classics step by step. Although Gao Gong also relied on the Four Books and Five Classics to pass the cruel imperial examination and enter the officialdom and the Hanlin Academy, Gao Gong knew very well that relying on the Four Books and Five Classics could not save the Ming Dynasty.
Since the Four Books and Five Classics could not save the Ming Dynasty, Gao Gong would certainly not use such knowledge to teach the future of the Ming Dynasty in his mind.
Therefore, Gao Gong planned to skip the basic education of the Four Books and Five Classics and directly teach Zhu Zaigui how to govern the country.
When Zhu Zaigui heard that Gao Gong was coming, he immediately stopped drying his hair and hurried out of the house to greet Gao Gong.
"Hello, Mr. Gao. Please come in quickly."
Just as Gao Gong was about to salute, Zhu Zaigui salutes first and pulls Gao Gong into the palace.
Gao Gong looked at Zhu Zaigui's still wet hair and was so moved that he couldn't hold back his tears.
Gao Gong had only seen stories like this one, where people excitedly went out to greet guests with wet hair, in historical books.
Now seeing that Prince Yu actually welcomed him in such a way, Gao Gong instantly felt the emotion of "a gentleman will die for his friend".
"Your Majesty, there is no need to do this. I cannot bear such a favor."
Gao Gong said to Zhu Zaigui with emotion.
Zhu Zaigui smiled and said, "This is all my fault. I was playing with mud in the backyard this morning and got myself covered in mud. I forgot that you were going to give me a lesson. Please forgive me, sir."
How could Gao Gong dare to "forgive" Zhu Zaigui?
However, Gao Gong also showed a curious expression about what Zhu Zaigui said about playing in the mud.
Gao Gong asked: "Why did the prince want to play in the mud? Is this also for exercise?"
Hearing what Gao Gong said, Zhu Zaigui also said: "Yes, yes, it is to exercise the body's resistance. This king used to live too cautiously, so his body has always been in a weak state of protection. After experiencing the last accident, this king has learned his lesson and can no longer live like a delicate flower in a greenhouse. He must actively exercise his body's adaptability. So this king started playing with mud and appropriately put his body in nature to exercise his body's resistance under natural conditions."
Gao Gong listened to Zhu Zaigui's words and seemed to understand them, but also seemed not to understand them. Anyway, this way of exercise was quite new to Gao Gong.
But since Zhu Zaigui did so, it was thought to be the imperial physician's advice.
Moreover, seeing Zhu Zaigui's good spirit, Gao Gong couldn't help but think in his heart that this way of exercise might really be a feasible way of exercise.
Gao Gong said with emotion: "I never thought mud could be so useful. No wonder there is a saying: 'If you eat something unclean, you won't get sick'. This must be the reason."
Zhu Zaigui laughed and said, "That's right, but you still have to eat clean food. Just like I'm playing in the mud now, you can get a little dirty while playing and let your body resist, but after playing, you still have to wash it clean, otherwise you will get sick from what you eat."
After talking about this topic with Gao Gong, Zhu Zaigui said embarrassedly: "Mr. Gao, please have some tea first. I will go and fix my hair to avoid being rude."
Gao Gong was also afraid that Zhu Zaigui would catch a cold with wet hair, so he quickly replied, "Your Highness, please go quickly. I will wait here."
(End of this chapter)