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

"People in ancient times really had it tough; getting through winter was practically like going through a tribulation."

Upon seeing this, Lu Li couldn't help but sigh.

Then look at yourself, covered in a thick quilt, with air conditioning available.

"Our ancestors must have been wealthy at some point, otherwise, how lucky would we have been to survive?"

Lu Li casually scrolled down the comments section, and couldn't hold back his laughter at the very first comment.

(If people in ancient times could really survive the harsh winter, why don't we see any ancient people in modern times???)

(Oh yeah! "Aha!")

(Fast forward to "I'll never play with abstract art again")

(The ancients were people who lived in ancient times. If the ancients were really alive today, then they would be people living in the present. So, can the ancients still be called ancients if they were alive today? [Thinking])

(This person's IQ is probably below mine.)

(Then let me ask you, let me ask you)

"Sacred gold."

Lu Li couldn't help but laugh and casually scrolled down again.

Why did most ancient emperors die young? Why did they all take elixirs? Why did Emperor Jiajing live to 60, while Qin Shi Huang didn't even reach 50?

"What did you say?"

Upon seeing the title, Ying Zheng's face immediately darkened.

Isn't that polite of you?

Although he had long suspected that his lifespan might not be very long, it was impossible for him to be content with the fact that he would not live past 50.

The Great Wall is not yet completed, the imperial road has just begun, and the glass project taught by Tianmu is being tested.

He still has so much to do, and God only gave him fifty years?

"So, does that mean I only have a few years left to live? Oh well..."

Ying Zheng sighed, then suddenly felt that something was not quite right.

"According to later generations, I died from taking elixirs? That shouldn't be the case. I felt incredibly energetic after taking them, how could they be poison?"

"Even if the elixir was truly poisonous, why was Jiajing able to live for more than a decade longer? What did I lack compared to him?"

Ying Zheng was really devastated and couldn't accept that Jiajing had lived for so long.

Zhu Houcong was even more disarmed than Ying Zheng, exclaiming, "I've cultivated my body to resemble a crane, and practiced the Tao under a thousand pine trees with two volumes of scriptures... I cultivate the Tao day and night, purifying my mind and reducing desires, how could I possibly have only lived to 60?"

"Even if you can't become an immortal, living to eighty or ninety years old should be reasonable, right?"

Looking at the mountain of memorials piled up in front of him, Jiajing immediately lost interest in reading them.

After the appearance of the celestial curtain, he ordered the formation of a fleet to begin voyages for raiding and trading.

Gold, spices, and gems were shipped back from overseas, and the previously strained national treasury was replenished at a visible rate.

Seeing the ever-growing imperial treasury, Emperor Jiajing was overjoyed and prepared to refine even more superior elixirs.

But Tianmu's words shattered all his good mood.

Jiajing got up and walked to the alchemy furnace, his mind a complete mess.

That doesn't make sense. Could it be that the prescription is wrong?

Jiajing stroked the cold furnace wall, his mentality slightly broken.

I have enough money now, but I don't have the life to enjoy it!

This is an interesting question, let's discuss it.

First and foremost, it is certain that Ying Zheng's health was not as good as Zhu Houcong's.

Zhu Houcong was a resilient prince of the Ming Dynasty; even palace maids couldn't strangle him, which shows his physical strength.

If it weren't for the long-term consumption of elixirs, his lifespan probably wouldn't have been much shorter than Zhu Yuanzhang's.

"King of Endurance...is that a compliment?"

Liu Bangqiang suppressed a laugh, his face turning a deep purplish-red.

This title is fine for a general or a soldier, but it has an inexplicable absurdity when applied to an emperor.

Besides, the fact that he wasn't strangled to death by a few palace maids is something worth bragging about.

This shows that you can't even control your own harem, and the palace maids want to kill you. What kind of character is this?

The ability of later generations to make fun of people is truly ingenious.

Li Shimin was speechless, feeling utterly absurd.

What kind of mess is it that the emperor, instead of governing the country, almost got killed by a palace maid?

As for the claim that taking elixirs could prolong life, he didn't believe a single word of it.

If that thing were really useful, how did Qin Shi Huang die?

Besides physical constitution, another very important reason is the different ingredients in the pills.

The Qin Dynasty was in a state of ignorance at that time, and the materials used for alchemy were very primitive, basically just adding whatever was available.

For example, mercury sulfide, lead, copper, tin, iron, etc. It's almost as if the periodic table of elements has been included.

By the Jiajing era, alchemy techniques had become quite sophisticated after more than a thousand years of development.

At least in terms of drug dosage, there is now relatively strict control.

Furthermore, Emperor Jiajing himself was well-versed in medicine and was a famous emperor who practiced alchemy.

He would add a large amount of herbs to the elixir to neutralize its toxicity and control the dosage.

If there's another reason, it's that Emperor Jiajing would give the elixirs to his ministers first before consuming them himself.

For the sake of their own lives, the ministers dared not allow Jiajing to administer the strong medicine.

"Damn it! An emperor who practices alchemy? Is this something an emperor should be doing?!"

Upon seeing this, Zhu Yuanzhang was so angry that he trembled all over.

This bastard went off to refine elixirs, what about state affairs? Who will review the memorials?

No wonder they could raise a corrupt official like Yan Song; it's a case of the upper beam being crooked and the lower beam being crooked too!

Zhu Yuanzhang was so angry that he laughed instead, feeling his blood pressure suddenly rise.

As a hardworking emperor who attended court every morning, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't stand lazy people who didn't do their jobs.

Return the elixir, what a load of rubbish!

No one in history has ever achieved immortality by consuming elixirs; they are all frauds!

Thinking of this, Zhu Yuanzhang flew into a rage. "Mao Xiang, go and bring that bastard Fourth Prince here!"

Mao Xiang accepted the order and withdrew, returning shortly afterward, covered in sweat.

"Your Majesty, as soon as the scene on the screen began, His Highness the Prince of Yan jumped over the wall and ran away from the camp."

They run pretty fast!

Zhu Yuanzhang gritted his teeth and began searching for the large wooden stick, preparing to have a good chat with Zhu Di later.

Seeing that things were going badly, Zhu Biao quickly stepped forward to smooth things over.

"Father, please calm down. The absurdities of future generations have nothing to do with my fourth brother."

Zhu Yuanzhang gave a cold snort, clearly not intending to let the matter rest.

"If the roots are not straight, the seedlings will surely be crooked! If it weren't for the fourth prince's rebellion and usurpation, how could such a useless piece of trash have emerged from our lineage!"

"Mobilize the nearby Imperial Guards and bring the Fourth Prince back to us!"

If the roots are not straight, the seedlings will be crooked?

Upon hearing this, everyone present looked at Zhu Yuanzhang with strange expressions, their faces twitching slightly.

At the same time, in the Xianyang Palace of the Qin Dynasty.

Ying Zheng sat on the throne, looking at the golden elixir in his hand, and fell into silence.

He didn't understand mercury sulfide or the periodic table, but he could tell from the sound that it wasn't anything good.

So, was my sudden death really due to these golden elixirs?

Ying Zheng pinched the golden pill and held it to his nose to sniff it lightly; the pungent smell of cinnabar hit his brain directly.

After a long while, his eyes regained their coldness and decisiveness.

"Li Si, arrest all the alchemists in the palace and have Xu Fu interrogate them one by one."

"promise."

Li Si accepted the order and left without daring to delay for even a moment.

Ying Zheng stood alone in the center of the hall, his gaze once again fixed on the sky, and he let out a soft breath.

Is immortality ultimately just a fleeting and unreal dream?

Are these the only two emperors in ancient times who died from consuming elixirs?

That would be a gross underestimation of our ancestors. Not counting the noble families, there was a long list of emperors alone.

Besides Qin Shi Huang and Emperor Jiajing, there were also Emperor Ai of Jin (Sima Pi), Emperor Daowu of Northern Wei (Tuoba Gui), Emperor Taizong of Tang (Li Shimin), Emperor Xuanzong of Tang (Li Chen), Emperor Guangzong of Ming (Zhu Changluo), and Emperor Shizong of Qing (Yinzhen).

These people either have clear records of taking elixirs in historical books, or their bodies were found to contain excessive levels of heavy metals during archaeological excavations.

Even if the death wasn't caused by heavy metals, it was most likely related to elixirs.

All the emperors who were named fell silent.

"Haha, then it's alright."

Ying Zheng couldn't help but laugh. So it wasn't just him who died from taking the elixir. Now he felt a little better.