After the court dispersed, Emperor Tianqi ran straight towards Zhu Cheng's carriage, and asked while running: "Are the popsicle coming? My little girl | my wife is anxious."

Zhu Cheng lifted the curtain and exposed a large square wooden box, saying, "I have prepared it long ago. I have wrapped it with a quilt and it won't melt. However, it is already late autumn and the weather is getting colder. The queen eats more popsicles, which can easily damage the kidneys, and may not be beneficial to her offspring."

Emperor Aoki paused slightly and said in surprise: "Is the popsicle so harmful?"

"Everything in the world is like this, and it will cause disasters if it goes by. For example, everyone hopes that the sky will be clear, but for a few months, thousands of miles away from the ground, it will become a serious drought; and heavy rain, water overflows Jinshan, and people are displaced, which is a major flood. The same is true for popsicles. When the weather is hot, this thing can relieve heat and quench thirst. However, eating too much will cause cold air to invade various internal organs of the human body."

When Emperor Tianqi heard this, he nodded and ordered Wei Zhongxian to put the popsicle into the ice warehouse. Then he turned around and went into the palace to comfort Queen Zhang.

Seeing Emperor Tianqi leaving, Wei Zhongxian said to Zhu Cheng with a heavy face: "Zhu Cheng, why did you mention the matter of offspring? Mrs. Fengsheng doesn't like others talking about this."

"Madam Fengsheng, are you referring to the Ke Yinyue?"

"It is this person. The Holy Madam is in the back | The palace covers the sky with one hand and cannot be offended easily."

"Grandpa Wei," Zhu Cheng said sincerely, "Your power is given by the emperor. You only need to be loyal to the emperor alone. Others are just passing clouds. The age of the guest Yinyue may not be able to give birth. Even if you give birth to descendants, you will be an idle prince at most, and it has nothing to do with the overall situation. The affairs of the palace are too complicated. Don't interfere, otherwise I may not be able to save you in the future."

Wei Zhongxian was moved and said, "The descendants of the Wei family really look at the long term. I almost became a sinner for the ages. It seems that the important task of reviving the Wei family still has to be on you."

After saying that, Wei Zhongxian ordered people to carry wooden boxes, but he hurriedly followed Emperor Tianqi into the house.

Zhu Cheng sighed softly and said to himself: "I am a little confused even if I am, so why are you talking about reviving the Wei family? Although things are similar and people are similar, is it a coincidence or something that really matters? Just as Wei Zhongxian said, he was really brought to Beijing by human traffickers. Alas, this is really a permanent mystery."

Zhu Cheng was thinking endlessly, and Wei Zhongxian hurried out and said, "Zhu Cheng, the emperor cannot convince the queen. I ordered you to enter the palace to meet and help convince the queen."

Zhu Cheng was stunned and thought to himself: "Isn't Empress Zhang a famous and well-educated Empress in history? Why can't Emperor Tianqi convince her? It seems that Empress Zhang in this life should be a foodie, and the world of foodie is really hard to understand."

Seeing that Zhu Cheng was slowly swaying, Wei Zhongxian was anxious and dragged him into the room.

Zhu Cheng invited Emperor Tianqi and Empress Zhang to An, and Emperor Tianqi said, "Come on, come on, tell the queen why you can't eat popsicles."

Zhu Cheng was stunned when he heard this, and he just said that he should eat less popsicles when it was cold. Why did it become the emperor's mouth that he could not eat popsicles? No wonder the queen didn't believe it.

The queen said: "I believe in Zhu Cheng's character. If the popsicle really cannot be eaten, he will never make it. And I heard that Zhu Youjian and Ke Qingqing like to eat popsicle very much. If the popsicle is poisonous, how could Zhu Cheng indulge them? I heard that these two people are Zhu Cheng's top and lifeline."

Both the emperor and the queen mentioned themselves, and Zhu Cheng couldn't do it if he didn't speak: "Queen, this popsicle is not a bad thing, I have never said that this thing cannot be eaten..."

As soon as these words were spoken, Emperor Tianqi frowned, while the queen smiled.

Then Zhu Cheng changed his words: "However, popsicles are only suitable for consumption in midsummer to cool down the heat. In autumn and winter, the cold outside is too severe. If you eat popsicles again, the cold inside will attract external evil, which may damage the internal organs."

Seeing that Zhu Cheng was speaking solemnly, Queen Zhang believed it in her heart, but she was still a little suspicious and said, "You are not a doctor, these are not your guesses."

Zhu Cheng smiled slightly and said, "The scholars of the Ming Dynasty have all kinds of knowledge about medicine and fortune-telling. Although I have not specialized in medical skills, I also know a little about it. I have seen many Hu singers who like to expose their belly and dance, but most of them cannot have children. Based on this, I infer that women's belly cannot be affected by cold. If they are affected by cold, it will definitely affect their childbirth."

Queen Zhang laughed and said, "You said that the scholars of the Ming Dynasty understood all the five elements and eight things, and I admit this. However, you are not a scholar, you don't even have a scholar's fame."

Zhu Chengjun blushed and said, "My sister-in-law is making fun of me. Since that's the case, I'll go to take the exam for you next time. Humph, I don't want to win three yuan in a row, I... I'll win six yuan in a row for you."

Emperor Tianqi was overjoyed and quietly patted the queen's palm behind her, indicating that she was amazing, and finally lured Zhu Cheng into the trap.

Empress Zhang was stunned when she heard this and asked, "I know how to win three yuan in a row, that is, Jie Yuan, Hui Yuan, and the top student. What does it mean to win six yuan in a row? Do you take the exam twice in every exam?"

"Not bad, but I'm going to take the civil and military exams, winning both the top scorer in the civil and military exams."

Emperor Tianqi clapped his hands and said, "Okay, one word is certain. If you win six yuan in a row, I will let you and your younger brother enter the court and become an official, and we three brothers will revive the Ming Dynasty together!"

The queen thought about it and asked again: "Zhu Cheng, as far as I know, popsicles are very easy to melt. You transported popsicles from the imperial village to the Forbidden City for such a long distance, what method did you use to prevent the popsicles from melting?"

Emperor Tianqi smiled. He had asked Zhu Cheng this question before and knew the answer. Before Zhu Cheng could speak, he rushed to answer: "Yan'er, this is very simple. When Zhu Cheng came, he wrapped the popsicle with a quilt. The quilt is just insulated and does not heat up. In other words, it can maintain high temperatures or low temperatures. If the popsicle is wrapped, it will not melt easily. In addition, the road Zhu Cheng was walking on is a cement road, which is flat and sturdy, and the carriage is coming quickly. The popsicle is delivered to the palace before it melts."

The queen's name is Zhang Yan. Although she is young, she has a very motherly demeanor. She listened to Emperor Tianqi's introduction to the transportation of popsicles like a treasure, and keenly grasped the key point of the cement road, and asked, "Zhu Aiqing, what is this cement road?"

"When I return to the Queen, cement is a new type of building material developed by Tongle Academy of Sciences. It is very cheap and the construction is very simple. However, after solidification, its hardness is comparable to that of three-metal soil. The road paved with cement is convenient for horse riding and carriages, so it is called cement road."

After listening to Zhu Cheng's introduction, Zhang Yan turned to the emperor and said, "Congratulations to Master, with the cement road, the transportation problem of the Ming Dynasty can be solved."

Emperor Tianqi was overjoyed when he heard this and said, "Recently, Shaanxi and Gansu have shown signs of severe drought. If there are cement roads to transport food to the northwest, the disaster victims in Shaanxi and Gansu will be very lucky, and the people in the world will be very lucky."

Wei Zhongxian said worriedly: "A section of the road is cheap, but it costs a lot to build a road from Jiangnan to Shaanxi and Gansu. I am afraid that the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Industry will not be able to allocate the money."

"As long as the emperor wants to build a road," Zhu Cheng said confidently, "I have a way."

Wei Zhongxian urged: "Oh, Lord Zhu just say something, don't swell your appetite. Zhu Cheng is good at everything, but this habit is not good. Just like a storyteller, say half of it and keep half of it, which is so anxious."

Everyone laughed.

After laughing, Zhu Cheng said, "If the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Industry allocate money, there is certainly no problem in building roads. If the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Industry have no money, it doesn't matter. The four of us - the Emperor, A Jian, and Eunuch Wei, I will jointly establish a road company and build a toll road. After the road is built, we will share the money according to the investment ratio."

Emperor Tianqi said strangely: "You can charge on the road, how do you charge?"

Zhu Cheng said: "If we build the road ourselves, we cannot use the roadbed of the original road and build a parallel cement road next to the road. If passengers are willing to walk on the old road, of course they will not charge their money. If passengers think the cement road is convenient and fast and willing to walk on new roads, they will charge a fee every 100 miles. Eliminate the cost of managing and protecting the road, the rest is our profit. After the demonstration road is successfully built, we can also promote it to other roads and raise funds from the wealthy families. However, building roads is for the country after all, and we cannot look at everything. Transport military supplies, disaster relief money and grain can be used for free."

Emperor Tianqi was still a little worried and asked, "I have collected money from the road. Will the people be willing to spend money to leave?"

Zhu Cheng said: "The flat road can protect both horse hooves and carriages. It is fast, so the people will definitely be willing to walk."

Emperor Aoki nodded and said, "In this way, the Ming Dynasty will no longer be troubled by hunger."

Zhu Cheng knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, there is another thing that affects the food security of the Ming Dynasty."

Emperor Aoki asked, "What else is there?"

"Now, the northwest of China is flooded by droughts, but Jiangnan has good weather, but Jiangnan has many textile factories and sugar factories, and many farmlands have been converted into mulberry forests or planting cotton, sugarcane and other crops, and grain production is reduced in large quantities. Once a major famine occurs across the country, Jiangnan will have no grain to adjust."

Emperor Tianqi turned to Wei Zhongxian and asked, "Is this really the case in Jiangnan?"

Wei Zhongxian said: "I don't know about this situation, but in recent years, the taxes in Jiangnan are higher than before. If you only grow grain, you will not be able to gather so many financial and taxes."

Emperor Tianqi stared at Zhu Cheng and suddenly laughed: "Brother Cheng made this suggestion, and there must be a solution. You should calm down first, don't hide it, quickly tell your method."

Zhu Cheng stood up and said, "Keep the red line of 200 million mu of grain planting. The Ming Dynasty now has a population of 200 million, and each person consumes 30 kilograms of grain per month, which is 72 billion kilograms per acre in a year. The output per mu is about 500 kilograms. There is no expectation for grain in North China and Northwest. Then Jiangnan must maintain 1500 million mu of arable land to support the whole country. Take a whole, 200 million mu. It is better to be more than less. After all, if you have grain in your hands, you don't feel panic."

Emperor Tianqi, Empress Zhang, and Wei Zhongxian looked at Zhu Cheng who was talking in a daze.

After a long time, Emperor Tianqi said, "Zhu Cheng, Zhu Cheng, you are really a prime minister. Ten years later, I will take you into the cabinet. Forget it, don't win six yuan in a row. As long as you participate in the palace examination, I will take you as the top scorer. I will open this back door. Then you can feel at ease to join the court with Ajian as an official."
Chapter completed!