How can I bow my head and serve the powerful officials?

Gu Lao was too lazy to pay attention to Xie Chengze. He took off his shoes and got on the kang. He then touched here and there, lifted the quilt to carefully check the condition of the kang, smelled it, and checked the temperature.

"You can't put bedding directly on the kang. It's best to put a layer of dense straw mats woven with bamboo strips to separate it. The kang surface far from the fire is relatively cool. Hmm... try stacking honeycomb-shaped stones at the end of the kang to draw the heat from the smoke upwards. The height of the honeycomb stones is tentatively set at about one foot."

After pointing out the problem with the kang, Gu Lao put on his shoes and got off the kang. He touched the chimney pipe and after thinking for a while, he said, "Add a baffle inside the chimney pipe to prevent excessive smoke from overflowing in winter and causing the kang surface to cool too quickly. Also, pay attention to the problem of blockage, especially in winter, it is very easy to be blocked by heavy snow..."

"Yes." The historian at the side held a pen and wrote down the problems pointed out by Gu Lao one by one.

After Gu Lao finished speaking, Xie Chengze immediately flattered him, "Gu Lao is worthy of being the leader of the Ministry of Industry. The Ministry of Industry has a soul because of you!"

"Don't flatter me!" Gu Lao moved aside in disdain and said unhappily, "If your Highness has nothing to do, please leave now!"

"No hurry, no hurry." Xie Chengze followed Gu Lao and asked tentatively, "Gu Lao, you are so powerful, do you have any disciples?"

"Hmph!" Gu La turned his head away without answering.

"Guo Lao has a few students who are learning from him, but he hasn't accepted them as apprentices yet." An official smiled and said, "So Gu Lao is very interested in the craftsman who drew the kang. He said that he is very talented and wants to accept him as an apprentice!"

Gu Lao couldn't help but glared at the official. "Shut up! Who said I wanted to take in an apprentice? I think that man is just so-so. If he really had the ability, why wouldn't he come to work in my Ministry of Industry? I'm afraid he's just a country bumpkin who drew that blueprint out of sheer inspiration!"

"Alas! Gu Lao, you are just being stubborn." The official shook his head and sighed, then turned to ask Xie Chengze, "Your Highness, do you know who that craftsman is?"

"Well..." Xie Chengze rubbed his chin, and saw Gu Lao secretly prick up his ears out of the corner of his eye, so he pretended to be funny and said, "I heard that this person is quite handsome and talented. When he walks on the street, there will be a grand scene of throwing fruits to fill the carts. It can be seen that his appearance and talent are enough to impress everyone. Although he is a half-way house in the way of making magic, he is young and has a bright future. He has a gentle temper and is smooth and flawless in dealing with people. His wealth is even rich enough to rival a country - ahem, as for the way of making magic, it is just a leisurely pastime for him, and his ambition is not here."

The officials suddenly realized, "So that's it."

"But which young master is he? There is only one merchant in Jian'an who is rich enough to rival a country."

"Could it be that Mr. Jiang? No, that's not right. Why have I never heard of his accomplishments in the art of making magic? On the contrary, his ability to find gold is quite amazing..."

The officials of the Ministry of Works were talking among themselves. They were about to ask Xie Chengze who this craftsman was when suddenly there was a heavy knock on the door outside and a long and familiar voice sounded, "Is Gu Yun, the supervisor of the Ministry of Works, here?"

"It seems to be the voice of Eunuch Zhao."

"Hurry, hurry, open the door."

The two doormen quickly ran to the door, opened the door of the Ministry of Works, and welcomed Eunuch Zhao in. Gu Lao walked out of the crowd and said in a deep voice, "This old minister is here. I wonder what Eunuch Zhao wants to call you for?"

"Your Majesty, I'm here to ask about the progress of the kang." Eunuch Zhao waved his whisk and suddenly saw a flash of blush that passed by in an instant. He couldn't help but stand on tiptoe to look and asked in confusion, "Huh? Could it be that the Second Prince is here too?"

Xie Chengze squatted on the ground with his head in his hands:...This old man, how come his eyes are so sharp!

"The Second Prince is indeed here, and we were just about to ask him who the craftsman who invented the kang was." An official said with a smile.

"Oh, then you've asked the right person." Eunuch Zhao waved his whisk and said with a smile, "The craftsman who came up with the idea of ​​the heated kang is none other than—"

"Eunuch Zhao!" Xie Chengze hurriedly spoke out to stop him, and crawled out to cover Eunuch Zhao's mouth, "Tell me what you want here first!"

Eunuch Zhao looked at Xie Chengze in confusion, and realized that Xie Chengze was deliberately concealing the truth. However, he did not understand why the Second Prince was still hiding such a great achievement by promoting the kang system and at least preventing the people in the north from freezing to death in their homes during the snowstorm.

Could it be that because His Majesty did not specifically speak to the Ministry of Works about this matter, the Second Prince misunderstood and thought that His Majesty did not want him to have a bad reputation, so he refused to say it?

Alas, Your Highness is still too obedient.

Children who don’t cry won’t get any candy.

Eunuch Zhao felt very sorry for him, but he did not mention the matter again. Facing the disappointed looks of the crowd, he cleared his throat and said, "Old man, your majesty is here to ask a question. Has the kang been built?"

"Unfortunately, I have fulfilled my mission and have completed the production of the kang." Gu Yun said confidently, "There are only some minor flaws left, but I have prepared solutions and they will be solved soon."

"Very good, very good. In that case, then please..." Eunuch Zhao suddenly rolled his eyes and changed his words, "And all the officials, let's go to the Golden Palace to obey orders."

The ministers looked at each other, then bowed and said, "Yes."

The large group of people from the Ministry of Works began to rush to the Golden Palace. On the way, they inevitably talked about the ringing of the celestial bell in the morning, and asked, "Eunuch Zhao, I wonder what the celestial decree was this time?"

The decrees from heaven had always indicated blessings or disasters. The old officials in the palace couldn't help but recall that the last decree from heaven issued by the Astronomical Bureau was a good omen of blessing from heaven, saying that the Second Prince was a lucky star sent from heaven, although in the past twenty years, they had never felt that the Second Prince had any "blessings" at all.

"It's a snowstorm." Eunuch Zhao sighed, "It's a once-in-a-century snowstorm that's spread all over the northern territory. I'm afraid the capital will also be affected."

"It's a heavy snowstorm? This disaster is very difficult to control!" Upon hearing this, all the officials showed their worries. However, when they thought of the kang, they couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. "Then the kang is completed at the right time! Once the kang is implemented, it will definitely help us survive the cold winter!"

"Rather than saying that the kang was completed on time, it would be better to say that the blueprint was delivered on time."

"Yes! This heated bed didn't come earlier or later, but it came before the divine decree came. It must be that the gods are protecting our Jian'an Dynasty and don't want the people of Jian'an to suffer this much!"

"Yes, yes, that's right! God has mercy on me and blessed Jian'an!"

All the officials exclaimed in delight, without noticing that Eunuch Zhao, who was leading the way in front, secretly rolled his eyes.

What about the protection of gods and the mercy of heaven? It was obvious that the Second Prince racked his brains to come up with the idea of ​​the fire bed!

……

In the Golden Palace, before Eunuch Zhao arrived, the voice of congratulations could be heard, "Your Majesty, great joy! The heated kang has been developed!"

Emperor Jian stood up from the dragon throne with great joy, "Great! This way, the people will suffer less in the cold winter!"

Kang?

What is that?

Inside the hall, all the civil and military officials looked outside in confusion, only to see Eunuch Zhao leading officials from the Ministry of Works walking in with their heads held high.

When Emperor Jian saw so many people coming into the palace, he looked at Eunuch Zhao in confusion, asking: Didn't he order that Gu Lao be summoned once the fire kang was ready? Why did he bring so many people?

Eunuch Zhao ran to the side of Emperor Jian, leaned over and whispered something in his ear. After a moment, Emperor Jian's gaze fell on Xie Chengze, who was walking behind the crowd and was preparing to sneak back to the imperial court. A look of understanding and teasing appeared on his face.

Xie Chengze happened to catch a glimpse of this unknown smile:?