Sky Curtain: My Great Qin must have an aircraft carrier!

Besides these hotels, what did poor people in ancient times usually live in?

In ancient times, there was no reinforced concrete, and the vast majority of ordinary people lived in shacks.

If you've seen the show "Solo Living in the Wild," the shelters the contestants built were actually just shacks.

They would also spread straw, stalks, or dry leaves on the bed, which served as both a mattress and a blanket.

As for their ability to keep warm, they are barely adequate.

"Being able to afford a shack means you at least own your own land and have some savings."

Upon seeing this, someone suddenly said something.

Reality is far more cruel than what is depicted in the illustrations.

Many more displaced and starving people could only huddle in dilapidated temples or under bridges at the foot of city walls.

When winter comes, frozen corpses can be found every morning on both sides of the official road outside the city.

If heavy snow blocks the roads, special personnel must be sent to clear the corpses, otherwise even carriages and horses cannot pass.

What may be just a sentence in a history book for posterity is something that is happening right now for them.

But what can we do living in this era? Can we really expect the imperial court to provide disaster relief?

There are millions of households in the world; who cares whether you live or die?

If the house isn't warm enough, what about clothes?

If you're poor, forget about animal fur; you mainly rely on plant fibers like hemp and kudzu to make clothes.

If that's not enough, weave several more layers and fill them with willow catkins, chicken feathers, and so on to keep them warm.

Even after the Song and Yuan dynasties, the situation did not improve much with the advent of cotton; poor people in the north could not afford to wear it.

What truly enabled the entire nation to wear cotton-padded clothing was Zhu Yuanzhang's order to forcibly promote the use of cotton.

By the mid-Ming Dynasty, ordinary people could finally afford to wear cotton-padded clothes to get through the winter, instead of stuffing themselves with reeds and chicken feathers.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang's eyebrows shot up.

"Didn't they say we're no good at civil administration? Didn't they say we're only good at killing? Why aren't they mentioning that anymore? Huh?"

"Who made it possible for the people of the world to wear cotton-padded clothes? Was it the Tang and Song emperors? Was it Genghis Khan?"

"It's me! It's Zhu Chongba!"

Old Zhu stood with his hands on his hips, his back ramrod straight.

Tianmu kept focusing on the Hongwu Treasure Notes, indiscriminately killing meritorious officials, which he concluded was due to his poor civil administration.

Zhu Yuanzhang didn't say it aloud, but secretly spent several days reading through history books and even invited the Hanlin Academy to improve policies.

Now it's all good!

Now the whole world knows that it was Zhu Yuanzhang who ensured that ordinary people had cotton-padded clothes to wear in winter!

Who dares to say that this achievement is not great?

Just as Zhu Yuanzhang was getting carried away with his triumph, Zhu Biao whispered something to him.

"Father, the Heavenly Canopy was only popularized in the mid-Ming Dynasty, which is at least a hundred years after the founding of our country."

"Nowadays, most people who can wear cotton-padded clothes are still in the Jiangnan region; the north doesn't need them at all."

Upon hearing these words, Zhu Yuanzhang's face darkened.

Of course he knew about this. The north had been plagued by war for years, and there weren't enough people to farm, let alone grow cotton.

But Old Zhu was in a good mood, so what was the meaning of his contradicting him?

"Farming doesn't happen that fast; crops take time to grow."

Zhu Yuanzhang was very displeased. "You brat, all you do is nitpick! Tell me what to do! Are you expecting me to conjure up 100,000 cotton-padded coats and send them over?"

This was just said in anger; he didn't believe Zhu Biao could come up with anything convincing.

To everyone's surprise, Zhu Biao was prepared. He calmly took out the memorial from his sleeve and presented it with both hands.

"Your Majesty, I have discussed some regulations with the Six Ministries these past few days and request your review."

"Oh?"

Zhu Yuanzhang was slightly taken aback, and after a moment of hesitation, he reached out and took it.

His gaze swept over the opening, and his initially questioning look gradually became focused.

"Rebuild the Grand Canal, dredge the old course, and connect the north and south."

In his memorial, Zhu Biao explained the benefits of opening up the north-south waterways and also took the entire northern defense line into consideration.

Once the Grand Canal opened, grain, cloth, and military equipment from the south could be transported to Beiping in a continuous stream.

Beiping was the former capital of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty, and with a little renovation, it could become a logistics transit station.

From now on, the army can rely on Beiping to launch a fatal attack on the grasslands at any time.

Zhu Yuanzhang closed the memorial and looked up at Zhu Biao.

"How much do you estimate it will cost to dredge the canal?"

"Your subject and the Ministry of Works have roughly calculated that the project will be carried out in three phases, requiring approximately 800,000 taels of silver and 200,000 laborers."

Zhu Biao was well-prepared and answered fluently.

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded slightly, and began to calculate in his mind.

Eight hundred thousand is not a small amount, but it's not like we can't afford it.

Moreover, once the canal is completed, the revenue from commercial taxes and water transport alone will be enough to recoup the investment in three to five years.

"You're usually so quiet, but you've taught us a lesson today."

Amidst laughter and scolding, Zhu Yuanzhang handed the gold medal from his waist to Zhu Biao.

Zhu Biao looked down and saw four characters engraved on the token: "As if the Emperor were here in person."

"Father, this..."

Zhu Yuanzhang raised his hand to interrupt: "We've seen your abilities, and we trust you with this matter."

"You have full authority to oversee this canal dredging project. Anyone from any of the six ministries who dares to shirk responsibility or pass the buck, just throw a sign at their face!"

After a pause, Old Zhu added, "And remember to bring the imperial physician, so that your mother and I don't have to worry about you all the time."

Zhu Biao was both amused and exasperated, and quickly agreed.

At this moment, the scene on the sky changed.

We just talked about how the poor survived the winter. Now let's take a look at how the ancient nobles spent their winters.

There's an old saying: "The poor are afraid of the cold, the rich are afraid of the heat."

For nobles who have plenty of resources at their disposal, keeping warm is all too easy.

First, there is no shortage of firewood, and there are also heated brick beds, fire pits, fire buckets, and stoves, among other things.

Even now, as people in Northeast China have moved into apartment buildings, they still fondly remember the traditional heated brick bed (kang).

Besides relying on fuel for heating, there are even more outrageous records from ancient times.

"Huh? Even after all this, it's still not enough?"

"Firewood can be burned at will, and there's a heated kang bed to sleep on—isn't this the life of an immortal?"

"How else can we keep warm? Are we supposed to build our houses on top of a volcano?"

The people below were completely dumbfounded.

In their imagination, the greatest luxury in winter is having a house full of firewood that never runs out.

As for what other tricks the rich can play, they really can't imagine.

The bearded young man chuckled, took out his phone, and opened a clip from a movie or TV show.

Speaking of outrageous ways to keep warm, we have to mention the famous scene in "Da Ming Dynasty 1566".

Grand Secretary Yan got tired of scrolling through his phone and prepared to go to sleep, while his two maids lay on the other side of the bed.

Why are they facing each other head to head? Because the two maids are there to warm Grand Secretary Yan's feet.

A collective gasp filled the air beneath the sky.

"That old man, he really knows how to enjoy life!"

"Using a living person as a hot water bottle? Who came up with this despicable idea?"

"What are you cursing about? If you were the prime minister, wouldn't you have four of them?"

"...It doesn't seem like it's impossible."

When Jiajing saw this, his face turned pale and then red, and his hand holding the whisk trembled.

Although Yan Song had long been removed from office, everyone in the world knew that Yan Song represented his reputation.

This old dog was greedy for a little money, but he even made these absurd things known to everyone, which were later made into a play!

The Qingliu faction will definitely seize on this, and Hai Rui might just write another memorial to hurl insults.

Thinking about these troubles, Jiajing grew increasingly annoyed with Yan Song and considered having him beheaded as a warning to others.

Besides the maids warming your feet, there's also a meat array.

Legend has it that during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, Chancellor Yang Guozhong was extremely extravagant and indulged in debauchery.

Knowing he wasn't capable, he decided to enjoy life to the fullest while he still had the good days.

How to get through the winter? Find a group of plump maids, line them up shoulder to shoulder to block the cold wind, and use their body heat to warm Yang Guozhong.

Later generations also imitated this style, calling it a "flesh screen."

"Damn it, what do you mean by incompetent? If I were incompetent, would I have become prime minister?!"

Yang Guozhong felt a chill run straight to the top of his head, and he jumped up and started cursing.

Even if Tianmu recited "flesh screen" a hundred times, Yang Guozhong wouldn't even blink.

But if you admit to being incompetent, you're doomed!

If these words were to reach His Majesty's ears, would he still be able to hold onto his position as Prime Minister?!