Ming Dynasty: Ask Zhu Yuanzhang to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 418 A Sweet Kiss Conceals a Sharp Edge, A Shocking Question!
"emperor?"

Gu Panjun was engrossed in her books in her bedchamber when she heard the familiar voice. Her eyes lit up with surprise and delight. She didn't even bother to put the book down before hastily getting up and rushing out of the room.

As they reached the entrance to the sleeping quarters, Zhu Yunwen stepped inside, and the two bumped into each other.

"Your Majesty, I pay my respects!" Gu Panjun said, but instead of following the proper court etiquette and bowing, she took advantage of the moment of collision to open her arms and hug Zhu Yunwen tightly, as if she wanted to pour all the longing she had felt over the past few days into this embrace.

If this scene were witnessed by those pedantic and rigid ministers who always talked about etiquette, they would probably be astonished. They would certainly think that the empress's behavior was improper and violated etiquette. They might even submit a memorial to advise the empress not to be so willful, and would also advise the emperor to reprimand her sternly, and that the emperor and empress should maintain a distance from each other in front of others and treat each other with respect.

However, Zhu Yunwen was by no means such a rigid person.

Humans are not plants or trees, nor are they cold, emotionless machines, so how can they live such a dull and boring life?
If we are truly bound by so-called rules in every aspect of life, and our every word and action is like that of a puppet on a string, how tiring and boring that would be, and what fun would there be in living?
Zhu Yunwen also stretched out his arms and gently hugged Gu Panjun, looking tenderly at her delicate and fair face, which was as smooth as mutton fat jade. He gently kissed her face and asked with a smile, "What has the Empress been busy with in the palace these past few days?"

The eunuchs and palace maids serving in the palace, seeing this, quickly turned their heads away, their eyes lowered, not daring to look too closely at the intimate scene between the emperor and empress, for fear of angering them.

"I am in this palace, and I miss Brother Tong every day and night."

She didn't address him as "Your Majesty" or "Emperor," but instead called him "Brother Tong" affectionately.

While blinking her bright, clear eyes, she gazed intently at Zhu Yunwen's face, a faint smile playing on her lips, and said coquettishly, "I don't know what kind of south wind blew today, but it blew Brother Yunwen here to my Kunning Palace. I thought Brother Yunwen had gone to the palaces of other concubines to seek pleasure, lingering among the flowers."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yunwen couldn't help but smile. He reached out and gently pinched her chubby, pink face, and said with a smile, "What? Is my Empress jealous? Back then, you were the one who pushed me to other palaces, and you even had the audacity to say that as the emperor, I should treat everyone equally and not always stay in your Kunning Palace."

Gu Panjun chuckled and didn't delve any further into the topic.

Seeing her like this, Zhu Yuntong understood and tacitly stopped mentioning the matter. The two smiled at each other, and the room was filled with affection.

Zhu Yunwen was well aware that although Gu Panjun was urging him to go to the other concubines, she was actually suppressing her strong possessiveness for the sake of his dignity as an emperor.

Within the confines of the palace, such an action was undoubtedly a silent self-sacrifice, or at least, the ultimate form of self-restraint.

What Gu Panjun did for him went far beyond this.

She also took the initiative to handle the selection of beauties to enter the palace, and she did it very well, paying great attention to every detail.

When selecting beauties, she understood Zhu Yunwen's deepest preferences and strictly selected them according to his aesthetic standards. She strived to bring as many of the most beautiful women in the world into the harem as possible without disturbing the people, so as to help Zhu Yunwen realize his imperial "dream" of having thousands of beauties.

What is particularly commendable is that she handled these matters with great caution.

In past dynasties, some emperors would send out "flower-picking envoys" to search for beautiful women from the common people, which caused widespread resentment and even led to unrest.

Gu Panjun, however, was completely different.

On the one hand, she did not select many exceptionally beautiful women, only pursuing high quality, and she used secret investigation methods instead of driving officials at all levels to search in large numbers, so most people were completely unaware of this.

On the other hand, after finding a suitable candidate, she abandoned the means of power oppression and instead used money to pave the way.

She was generous, and the prices she offered made the women and their families willing and even happy, so naturally no trouble would arise.

These methods were learned from Zhu Yunwen's daily conduct.

It's like the imperial court undertaking large-scale construction projects, building palaces, roads, and carrying out various engineering projects.

If people are forcibly conscripted for labor, they will surely complain bitterly, be driven to the brink of despair, and may even resort to mass rebellion.

However, if the people are hired to work with generous pay, they will only complain that there are too few such projects and hope that the court can arrange more and more.

Money shows tremendous power here!

The same principle applies to the search for beautiful women in the general public.

The families of the chosen women received an astonishing amount of money, becoming rich overnight.

Gu Panjun also made a special promise that women would not suffer any hardships after entering the palace and would receive a generous monthly allowance.

If a woman has been in the palace for several years but has never been favored by the emperor, she will be given a severance payment when she reaches a certain age and sent out of the palace to marry freely.

With such favorable conditions, how could the people not be willing?

Instead, they were eager to enter the palace.

He only regretted that his own daughter could not enter the palace.

Moreover, with the increase in the number of people in the palace and the reduction in affairs, many unnecessary time-consuming and laborious old rules that seemed to deliberately torment people were eliminated, greatly reducing the burden on palace maids and making women from the common people no longer resistant to entering the palace. Many people were full of anticipation.

Through these arrangements, Gu Panjun found many beautiful women to enrich Zhu Yunwen's harem, yet this did not arouse any opposition or complaints among the common people.

However, the ministers in the court held completely different views on this matter.

Throughout history, the "virtuous empresses" praised by the world have all advised emperors to prioritize the well-being of the nation and not to indulge in women.

However, Empress Gu Panjun not only failed to advise the emperor, but also actively assisted him in selecting beauties to fill the harem.

In the eyes of the ministers, this was a serious breach of the Empress's duty.

In contrast, Consort Xu Miaojin's behavior was more in line with the ministers' expectations of women in the harem.

She never helped the emperor do such a foolish thing.

After all, Xu Miaojin came from a noble family and received a good education from a young age. Her demeanor was naturally far superior to that of "Gu Panjun," who came from a common background.

Not to mention the massive expansion and construction of new palaces, which was rumored to be Gu Panjun's suggestion. She was greedy for enjoyment and not frugal, and wanted to build a bigger and more luxurious palace, which cost countless amounts of money.

Therefore, some ministers secretly discussed that Xu Miaojin was more suitable for the position of empress.

However, these discussions were confined to private conversations, and no minister dared to actually petition the court to depose Gu Panjun and install Xu Miaojin as empress.

After all, the deposition and establishment of an empress is a matter of paramount importance concerning the foundation of the nation, and the officials are well aware of its significance and dare not easily interfere.

Gu Panjun was so "understanding", so Zhu Yunwen naturally doted on her.

But he was, after all, the emperor who ruled the world, and in order to maintain peace and stability in the harem, he could not favor only the empress.

Moreover, to be honest, as a man, he always has a curiosity and desire for new things. Although Gu Panjun was stunningly beautiful and tried her best to cater to his every need, it could not stop Zhu Yunwen from occasionally wanting to experience different kinds of romance.

In my past life, I was just an ordinary person, and many thoughts could only be buried deep in my heart. I could only think about them; I dared not act on them.

Now that he is an emperor, he naturally has the ability to put his ideas into practice.

Gu Panjun had a keen understanding of the emperor's thoughts, and she acted with great magnanimity and open-mindedness.

The two walked leisurely into the bedchamber, leaning on each other, as if all the troubles of the world were irrelevant to them, and they were only immersed in this moment of tenderness.

Zhu Yunwen embraced Gu Panjun and sat lazily on the soft sofa. His gaze slowly swept around the surroundings, finally settling on the book that Gu Panjun had just put down not far away.

That was a newly compiled chemistry book from the Imperial University of Peking.

Zhu Yunwen raised an eyebrow slightly, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes, and said softly, "Sister Panjun, you are so fascinated by chemistry?"

Gu Panjun loves reading and immerses herself in the world of books whenever she has a spare moment.

Zhu Yunwen was aware of this.

In fact, since he transmigrated to this world, he has developed a strong interest in reading.

There are three main reasons for this.

Firstly, before transmigrating, he was already fond of all kinds of books, especially those wonderful online novels.

This deep-seated passion followed him here like a shadow.

Secondly, the entertainment activities in this life are far less diverse and colorful than in the previous life.

Despite his status as emperor, his exalted position, his special identity, the large number of servants around him, and the entertainment he enjoyed far beyond that of ordinary people, some of the cheap entertainment that he could easily enjoy in the technological age of his previous life was something he could never achieve in this life.

Therefore, reading became one of the few leisure activities that could be enjoyed in both worlds.

When I occasionally want to be alone, reading is almost the only option.

Thirdly, as an emperor, he needed to constantly learn about history and culture, and delve into the art of governing the country and managing people.

And learning these things naturally requires reading.

However, while reading is enjoyable, there is a world of difference between humanities books and science and engineering books.

Stories of emperors and generals can be studied as materials for learning strategies of governing a country, or enjoyed as entertainment during leisure time.

However, very few people would actively read science and engineering books unless it was for work or to make a living.

"I find this chemistry very interesting."

Gu Panjun smiled, her eyes filled with admiration, and said, "I have heard that the field of chemistry was created by His Majesty, and the core content of this book was all written by His Majesty himself."

"Your Majesty is truly exceptionally wise. My admiration for Your Majesty is like gazing up at the bright moon over Mount Tai."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yunwen's face flushed slightly.

Indeed, he was the one who proposed the discipline of chemistry.

In reality, although his chemistry grades were decent when he was in school in his previous life, he had forgotten most of his chemistry knowledge after leaving school, and only vaguely remembered some scattered content and basic guiding principles.

His contribution to this chemistry book is limited to proposing chemistry as a science and providing a general explanation of some principles.

"Do not believe those nonsense. I am busy with countless affairs of state. How could I have the leisure to compile books? This chemistry classic was compiled by the joint efforts of the Imperial University of Peking and the Academy of Sciences of the Ming Dynasty."

Zhu Yunwen appeared calm and told the truth without any hesitation.

As the founding father of chemistry, he doesn't need to claim credit for editing the book.

“Your Majesty, you are too modest.” Gu Panjun extended her slender finger and gently touched a key point in the book, saying, “This ‘equivalent exchange’ is the core principle of chemistry, but it is a concept first created by Your Majesty.”

She paused slightly, her eyes filled with reverence, as if countless little stars of worship were shining within them: "Based on this alone, Your Majesty's achievements in chemistry far surpass those of the world, and no one in the world can match them."

"As for the trivial details in the book, Your Majesty should not have to worry about them."

After saying that, she sighed softly, "What a wonderful 'equivalent exchange'! Only a genius like Your Majesty could come up with such an exquisite theory that points directly to the essence of all things in the world."

"I grew up in the village and was used to seeing those so-called scholars. I always thought they were pedantic and stupid, and once thought that all men in the world were like that."

Gu Panjun's eyes revealed a look of reminiscence as she said, "It wasn't until I had the good fortune to meet His Majesty that I truly realized there are people more capable than you, and heavens beyond heavens."

"My humble knowledge is nothing compared to Your Majesty's; it is like a frog at the bottom of a well gazing at the vast blue sky."

After saying this, she held Zhu Yuntong's hand tightly, her eyes glazed over, her admiration overflowing.

In an instant, the corners of her mouth turned up slightly, blooming into a warm and charming smile like a spring breeze, and she said softly, "To be Your Majesty's bedmate in this life is my greatest fortune."

"I don't know if it's because I accumulated good fortune in my past life that I have received such favor from Heaven."

"I only wish that these days could last a little longer, much longer..."

Zhu Yunwen gently pulled her into his arms, but did not respond to her words. Instead, he asked softly, "Your brother vehemently opposes the new learning and new policies, and even instructs servants to attack those who spread the new learning and new policies. Was he acting on your orders?"

His voice was soft and low.

But at this moment, in the vast bedroom, only the two of them sat embracing, so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.

Therefore, even though Zhu Yunwen's voice was very soft, it was still clear to the ear.

As soon as those words were spoken, the originally warm and harmonious atmosphere instantly froze as if frost had descended upon it.

Gu Panjun's bright smile vanished as if blown away by a gust of wind.

Her delicate body trembled slightly, a complex look flashed in her eyes, and she finally bit her lower lip and whispered, "Yes!"

……

(End of this chapter)