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

"Erlang, didn't you just say you didn't believe in immortality? Why did you end up on this path yourself?"

Empress Zhangsun was unusually angry. She walked a few steps to Li Shimin, her face full of annoyance.

Li Shimin was somewhat bewildered when his own empress questioned him in public, and he didn't know how to answer.

Just a stick of incense had burned before he mocked those emperors who consumed elixirs of immortality.

As a result, Tianmu immediately put his name on the list, and placed it in such a prominent position.

Just then, Wei Zheng, who was squeezed at the back, seized the opportunity, quickly stepped out from the crowd, cupped his hands, and said in a loud voice:

"Your Majesty is now wise and powerful, and naturally able to distinguish right from wrong."

"But when His Majesty's health declines, it is inevitable that sycophants will take advantage of the situation and offer him the elixir of immortality."

"If Your Majesty wishes to usher in an era of lasting peace, you should prioritize the well-being of the nation and its people. How can you waste your energy on elixirs and superstitious beliefs?"

In the past, few people in the court would have dared to speak up and agree with Wei Zheng.

But today, with the heavens as witness, everyone bowed down and prostrated themselves, saying, "We second your proposal! We implore Your Majesty to reconsider, stay away from magic arts, and take care of your health!"

The sight of the kneeling officials, a sea of ​​black, made Li Shimin feel a tightness in his chest, a sense of melancholy for a hero past his prime.

Time is so merciless; it can turn a fearless emperor into a pitiful old man who fears death.

Will I, in my old age, also seek out elixirs out of fear of death?

Li Shimin wiped away the tears from Empress Zhangsun's eyes and sighed, "I understand."

"Although I do not know what changes I have experienced in my later years, with the heavens as my witness, I will never touch a single elixir in my lifetime."

Only after receiving this promise did Empress Zhangsun and the entire court finally breathe a sigh of relief.

There is clear evidence for these, and the remaining emperors weren't much better off.

For example, Emperor Wu of Han, Liu Che, still sought immortality and elixirs in his later years, but he didn't consume them much.

As for why the emperor did this, it's very simple: it was for the sake of immortality.

If you put yourself in the emperor's shoes, you'll understand. You've already reached the pinnacle of power, possessing a vast empire and the power of life and death.

They are full of energy when they are young, but when they grow old, they will fear losing it all.

Watching oneself grow old helplessly and awaiting death is something an emperor could never accept.

At this point, the elixir was the only thing that could bring them hope.

Even though they knew eating it was pointless, it was still better than sitting and waiting to die, so they all ended up on similar paths.

"Alas, death is truly merciless."

"No matter how powerful you are, you are nothing but a skeleton in a tomb before it."

Liu Che remained silent for a long time before finally letting out a long sigh.

Seeing himself seeking immortality and medicine in his later years was also difficult for Liu Che to accept.

He has only been in power for a short time, and there are still too many unfulfilled ambitions.

Now, with the guidance of the heavens, the Han Dynasty will surely become even stronger in the future.

How could he possibly be willing to bow down to the passage of time?

Seeing Liu Che's somber expression, Wei Qing stepped forward and gently comforted him: "The death of a commoner is nothing more than a handful of yellow earth, but the death of an emperor can leave an everlasting legacy and a name that will be recorded in history."

"Life and death are fundamental principles of the universe, beyond human control. Why doesn't Your Majesty broaden your perspective?"

"As long as Your Majesty works diligently and makes our Han Dynasty's achievements recorded in history, so that future generations can look up to Your Majesty's great accomplishments."

"In this way, I will certainly not fail to live up to my life as your ruler."

Liu Che paused for a moment, then gave a self-deprecating laugh.

Yes, physical immortality is unattainable, but spiritual and spiritual immortality is in one's own hands.

"You're right, I will never fail to serve you for life."

Liu Che rallied, and a sharp glint returned to his eyes.

"Let's start with the Xiongnu. How's that kid Qubing's training going?"

Wei Qing felt somewhat helpless. The child was not yet an adult, and asking him every day wouldn't speed up his growth.

Some people are curious: why did the ancients have to go against heavy metals? Couldn't they have eaten something else?

To understand this, we need to go back to the ancient Five Elements theory.

Simply put, this theory is about eating what you lack, and replenishing what you eat.

With the development of the metallurgical industry, the ancients were very envious and thought, "If I can get some metal to eat, wouldn't I be able to gain metal-like power?"

The ancients felt that it was theoretically feasible, so they turned their attention to the most wondrous substance—cinnabar.

This substance turns into mercury when heated, and then turns back into cinnabar when cooled.

An ancient person slapped his thigh and exclaimed, "Isn't this the cycle of yin and yang, the return to youth?"

I've grasped the secret of heaven; I should quickly take two pills to nourish my body.

It wasn't just mercury; there were also gold, silver, lead, iron, sulfides, and other common materials used in alchemy.

Eating these things would surely lead to poisoning.

The symptoms of poisoning usually manifest as euphoria and mental alertness, which may lead the emperor to mistakenly believe that the elixir is effective.

The emperor was excited and quickly took more medicine to solidify its effects.

The people under the canopy of sky, upon seeing this, immediately began to discuss it amongst themselves.

"I don't think the emperor was very smart. Even the village kids know that those sorcerers are liars."

"They say that to live to old age without dying is to be a thief, but this elixir can send the emperor to his death; I think that's a great achievement!"

"That's right. Tianmu was talking about Emperor Xuanzong of Tang before. I think he would have been better off taking more pills and dying sooner."

Amid the noise, someone suddenly muttered something under their breath.

"Do you think the person on the dragon throne right now might be secretly eating too?"

The surrounding air fell silent for a moment.

Immediately afterwards, a low murmur of laughter erupted from the crowd.

"That's hard to say. If we really eat it, we'll just have to hope the alchemist's skills are good enough to get rid of the emperor quickly, so he won't come back to mess with us again."

Meanwhile, the Han Dynasty...

Liu Bang chuckled as he listened to Tianmu's explanation.

"Those emperors of later generations really have no memory. If the elixir of immortality were truly effective, why didn't Qin Shi Huang live a few more years?"

"Birth, aging, sickness, and death are natural phenomena. Those who spend all their time thinking about immortality are just bored and have nothing better to do."

Liu Bang had become indifferent to these matters of seeking immortality and medicine.

Rather than living in constant fear and anxiety about death, it's better to seize the day and enjoy life to the fullest.

Thinking of this, Liu Bang's craving was awakened, and he shouted towards the outside of the palace.

"Fan Kuai! Where have you been? Get a dog right now, I'm treating everyone to meat today!"

Xiao He, Zhang Liang, and the others inside the hall looked at each other, and finally laughed helplessly.

Putting aside Liu Bang's other abilities, his carefree and unconventional style is probably unmatched anywhere else in the world.

……

Some people might think that the ancients really didn't know that elixirs were poisonous, right?

Actually, that's not the case at all. Tang Dynasty poets were quite critical of the practice of consuming elixirs.

Take Bai Juyi for example. This guy lived to be seventy-five, which was considered a very long life in the Tang Dynasty.

He wrote a poem that included the line, "I alone refuse to take medicine, yet my old age is prolonged."

In plain terms: All of you who took those elixirs are dead, but I didn't take any of them and I'm still alive.

Han Yu was stunned when he saw this.

He glanced at Bai Juyi across from him, then at the packet of bright yellow powder on the table, and silently tossed the pill outside.

Bai Juyi stroked his beard, his face full of pride.

"Gentlemen, let's see, hasn't Old Bai won?"

Yuan Zhen, who was drinking tea nearby, rolled his eyes and didn't bother to reply.

This guy is already pretty arrogant when he writes poetry, but now that he's on the celestial stage, he'll probably be even more unrestrained.

Upon seeing this, Lu Li couldn't help but complain: "Don't modern people also like elixirs? They buy all sorts of health products, which are basically just piles of nutritional supplements, with the price skyrocketing dozens of times over under a different name."

As he spoke, he casually opened the comments section.

(Don't laugh at the ancients. Concepts like skin whitening, height increase, improved memory, male enhancement, increased bone density, and delayed aging have been around for ages.)

(My money!!! "A loud shout")

(Having trained his body to move like a crane, he is unafraid of palace maids strangling him. I came to ask him a question, but he had nothing to say: Is my son also in league with the Japanese?)

(All this fancy stuff is less useful than just boiling water.)

"Should we boil the water?"

Ying Zheng was preoccupied with his own lifespan and was stunned when he saw this comment.

Boil the water?

What's the use of something so simple?