Raising chickens and pigs and digging for wild vegetables, the county magistrate's promotion wa

Chapter 143 Old Zhu: That bastard tricked me again!

After reading the memorial presented by Wang Qiong, Emperor Zhu Chongba instructed Zhu Biao, "Let's go and see the honeycomb briquette and stove that Wang Qiong brought back."

As the father and son walked toward the East Palace, Zhu Biao explained the situation of honeycomb briquettes to Emperor Zhu Chongba: "According to Wang Qiong, he brought back a total of fifty honeycomb briquettes on this trip. Unfortunately, more than forty of them broke on the way, leaving less than ten intact ones. However, the rest are not wasted. As long as they can still be broken into pieces, they can be thrown into the stove to burn."

Emperor Zhu Chongba grunted and said, "That scoundrel always manages to come up with something new for us. It's just a pity that his mouth is too foul and his personality is like a piece of meat that can't be put down. Otherwise, we should transfer him to the capital."

At this point, Emperor Zhu Chongba couldn't help but shake his head slightly, "Forget it, you can keep this bastard. We don't want to get angry with him every day."

Upon hearing Emperor Zhu Chongba's words, Zhu Biao nearly vomited blood in anger—what do you mean you don't want to argue with him, so you leave it to me? So I'm supposed to argue with him?

Zhu Biao became increasingly annoyed, and then he remembered something Wang Qiong had said.

“By the way, Father, the simplified version of the Hongwu Zhengyun and the Hongwu Dictionary with three thousand characters has been completed,” Zhu Biao said with a smile. “But Wang Qiong heard from Magistrate Yang that many characters are quite troublesome to write. If they could be simplified, it would be more convenient for the people to learn. If more people can read, those scholars will no longer be able to distort the truth.”

Emperor Zhu Chongba stopped in his tracks, turned to look at Zhu Biao, and asked with a dark face, "So? What do you want to say?"

Zhu Biao chuckled, "I was thinking, Father, should we talk to Mr. Li and Mr. Liu again and ask them to find a way to simplify many of the troublesome characters? Or perhaps we could just let Kong Xixue handle this matter?"

Emperor Zhu Chongba grunted, looked Zhu Biao up and down, then slapped him on the back of the head and cursed, "You little beast, that Yang fellow treated your father like a beast of burden, and you want to be like him? Don't you know your own limitations?"

After cursing Zhu Biao, Emperor Zhu Chongba strode forward, still cursing and scolding Zhu Biao as he went: "We know perfectly well that that bastard is now using your father like a beast of burden, but did you hear what your father said? Let me tell you, leaving that Yang fellow for you to use is for your own good, so don't be ungrateful."

"Damn it, all these capable people are a bit abnormal, more or less all have some kind of problem. This guy surnamed Yang is just that when he's not comfortable, he doesn't want others to be comfortable either. He can't stand seeing others idle while he's working. If you want to use him, you have to be prepared to be treated like a beast of burden."

However, to Emperor Zhu Chongba's surprise, Zhu Biao did not obediently accept the reprimand after being scolded. Instead, he snorted and said, "He dares! If he dares to order me around, I'll go find Sister Jin'er and Sister Yu'er!"

Zhu Biao's words were like a bolt from the blue, striking Emperor Zhu's heart with devastation.

Yeah, if we just order that bastard around, he won't be happy. But if we let Jin'er and Yu'er order him around, what trouble can that bastard cause?

Of course, if this bastard isn't afraid of his wife, that's another story, but how many men in this world aren't afraid of their wives?

No, that's not right. You can't say he's afraid of his wife. You should say he loves his wife. Just like how our Old Zhu knows how to love our sister. How can loving someone be called being afraid?

While Emperor Zhu Chongba was pondering these thoughts, the father and son slowly walked towards the Eastern Palace.

Zhu Biao pointed to an extremely ugly stove and said, "This is the stove that Wang Qiong brought back. It is said that a dozen or twenty honeycomb briquettes can keep this stove burning all day."

Following the direction Zhu Biao pointed, Emperor Zhu saw a stove made entirely of mud standing in the courtyard. There was an empty space under the stove, and a kettle was placed on top of it. A sheet metal chimney was attached to the back of the stove, and as wisps of smoke rose, the air at the top of the chimney became distorted and billowed upwards.

Emperor Zhu Chongba circled the stove twice, then picked up the kettle and peered into it, saying, "This is quite a good thing. It's made of mud, and any commoner can afford it. It's a nice product."

After praising the stove, Emperor Zhu reached out and picked up a small piece of broken honeycomb briquette. He first brought it to his nose and smelled it, then picked up the kettle and threw the small piece of broken honeycomb briquette into the stove. As a plume of black smoke rose, a pungent smell also spread.

Emperor Zhu frowned slightly and said, "If it is really as Wang Qiong said in his memorial, that a dozen or twenty honeycomb briquettes can burn for a day, then this thing is very important to the people in the north."

"Putting everything else aside, just put a kettle on this stove, and you'll have hot water all day long. That will save young women and wives from a lot of suffering when they have to do laundry."

But as he spoke, Emperor Zhu couldn't help but complain again: "That bastard, he really knows how to cause trouble. Is there nothing in this world that he doesn't understand?"

After expressing his feelings, Emperor Zhu Chongba took Zhu Biao to Kunning Palace.

However, when they were still quite a distance from Kunning Palace, Emperor Zhu Chongba stopped and asked, "Biao'er, can you smell something delicious? I wonder what your mother will cook for us today?"

Zhu Biao secretly pursed his lips and said, "This is the aroma of mushrooms—Wang Qiong not only brought back the stove, but also a lot of mushrooms and fresh vegetables from Ningyang County. According to Wang Qiong, her sister... Magistrate Yang mobilized the people of Ningyang County to cultivate mushrooms and garlic sprouts, saying that as long as they are well matched with the stove, there will be no shortage of fresh vegetables in the winter."

Emperor Zhu was slightly taken aback and asked, "Don't you need hot springs?"

“I was initially unsure whether it was true or not, but,” Zhu Biao pointed to the stove and said, “with the stove, the temperature in the room can be raised, so it should be possible to cultivate some fruits and vegetables like in the Hot Spring Pavilion?”

Emperor Zhu Chongba narrowed his eyes slightly and snorted coldly, "Damn it, I've been tricked by that bastard again!"

Zhu Biao looked at the Emperor with curiosity and asked, "Again? Scheming?"

Emperor Zhu said with a dark face, "Have you forgotten what Wang Qiong said in his memorial? That scoundrel made a lot of mud stoves in Ningyang County and used empty houses to build many greenhouses to cultivate mushrooms and fruits and vegetables."

“We, as the emperor, cannot simply stand by and watch such wonderful things grow. We must find a way to enable people in other places to cultivate mushrooms and fruits and vegetables as well. As long as we don’t want to just watch, we must make an effort to promote these things.”

"But if we do that, wouldn't it make us look like that bastard is treating us like cattle?"

At this point, Emperor Zhu frowned slightly and muttered to himself, "What's wrong with this bastard? Why can't he stand to see us having a peaceful time?"

Zhu Biao shook his head slightly and said, "I don't understand either. Or rather, I've never heard of a county magistrate like him."