After ten years of accompanying me in my studies, the entire court begged me to shut up.

All the officials bowed down and shouted "Long live the Emperor!"

With the Imperial Guards clearing the way, Emperor Hongzhi walked in with a dark expression.

Zhu Houzhao hurriedly stepped forward and said, "Father, what brings you here?"

The Hongzhi Emperor glanced around and his gaze fell on the new stove.

"If I hadn't come, would you have shot a hole in the sky?"

Zhu Houzhao shrank back and whispered, "Your subject... Your subject didn't..."

"No?"

The Hongzhi Emperor snorted coldly, pointed at the stove, and questioned, "What is this thing? Such an important matter as negotiations between two countries, and you bring your envoy to see a stove you built? It's utterly absurd!"

Zhu Houzhao's face turned red with anxiety, and he hurriedly explained, "Father, this...this is not an ordinary stove, it's a biogas stove! It can use the gas from the latrine to start a fire for cooking, your son really..."

"Shut up!"

The Hongzhi Emperor, with a stern expression, said, "I sent you to represent the Ming Dynasty in negotiations hoping you would learn about governance and temper your character! But what have you done? You treat state affairs like a game, even making a bet with someone! Do you know you are the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty, and your words must be kept? If you lose, how will you explain yourself to the people?"

Zhu Houzhao opened his mouth, wanting to explain, but the more anxious he became, the less he could explain: "Your subject will not lose! This really... really can start a fire! Wang Guanzheng, quickly start a fire for your father to see!"

Wang Shouren knelt beside the stove, his forehead covered in cold sweat.

Theoretically, there's no problem; he's even put it into practice. But why can't it be lit?

He wiped the sweat from his forehead, gripped the tinder tightly, and went back to the stove.

But the stove remained quiet, without even a spark.

His hands started to tremble, and after several more attempts, there was still no response.

The Hongzhi Emperor's face was as cold as frost, and his brows furrowed more and more tightly.

Seeing this, Tulu seized the opportunity to step forward, placing his right hand on his chest, and said, "Your Majesty the Emperor of the Great Ming Dynasty, just now Your Highness's Crown Prince made a bet with me: if I could conjure a fire out of thin air, the trade terms would be as yours; if not, they would be as ours. Now it seems that the fire will not be able to be lit."

He paused, a smug smile spreading across his face, and continued, "Your country is a celestial empire, surely you wouldn't go back on your word?"

Akunda immediately echoed, "The warning from the Eternal Heaven still stands; if the Ming Dynasty breaks its promise, it may face even greater calamity!"

Seeing the situation turning against him, Zhang Sheng hurriedly said, "Your Majesty! This is my dereliction of duty; I failed to dissuade His Highness the Crown Prince in time! The treaty between our two countries is a matter of great military and national importance; how can it be treated so lightly? I beg Your Majesty to reconsider!"

These words, seemingly a willingness to take responsibility, actually shifted all the blame onto Zhu Houzhao. How could the Hongzhi Emperor not understand this?

He looked at Zhang Sheng, then at Zhu Houzhao who was looking anxious, and finally at Wang Shouren who was leaning over the stove, trying his best to start a fire.

"Minister Wang!"

Wang Shouren trembled and hurriedly bowed, saying, "Your subject is here!"

The Hongzhi Emperor slowly said, "You tell me, what exactly happened?"

Wang Shouren's face was very grim, and he had no choice but to tell the truth: "Your Majesty, I was in charge of building this biogas digester. The failure to ignite it just now must have been due to a problem somewhere, and it has nothing to do with His Highness the Crown Prince."

"You don't need to defend him!"

The Hongzhi Emperor shook his head and said calmly, "He is the Crown Prince, the heir apparent of the Ming Dynasty. He must accept his words and bear the consequences of his actions! Even if he is wrong, he must face the consequences openly; otherwise, how can he gain the respect of the people in the future?"

He then looked at Tulu and said in a deep voice, "You are the Crown Prince of Beiyuan?"

After the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the Yuan Dynasty was driven back to the grasslands, and from then on it was called the Northern Yuan.

Later, the Northern Yuan split into three tribes: the Tatars, the Oirats, and the Uriyangkhai. The Tatar tribe claimed to be the legitimate ruler and called itself the Great Khan, but in order to trade, it had to lower itself and acknowledge the title of the Northern Yuan in front of the Ming Dynasty.

Turu didn't care about the nickname; he was only thinking about the bet they had just made.

"Turubolot, Crown Prince of the Northern Yuan, greets His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Ming!"

The Hongzhi Emperor said, "The Crown Prince is young and impetuous, and his actions are rash. I apologize for making you all laugh. However, our Great Ming Dynasty wishes to keep its promises, Minister Zhang!"

Zhang Sheng quickly replied, "Your subject is here!"

"Go and discuss the details of the treaty with the Crown Prince, and proceed as follows..."

"Father!"

Zhu Houzhao suddenly interrupted loudly, his eyes reddening.

The Hongzhi Emperor said coldly, "Aren't you ashamed enough?"

"Give me another chance! Something must be wrong. I'm sure I can get the fire going!"

A hint of reluctance flashed in the Hongzhi Emperor's eyes, but he still said, "I have already given you a chance. From now on, you will be confined to your quarters for three months to diligently study the classics!"

Zhu Houzhao was so anxious he stamped his feet, and subconsciously went to look for Yang Shen: "Yang, my study companion! Where is Yang, my study companion?"

He looked around, only to find that Yang Shen was no longer in the crowd.

The Hongzhi Emperor sighed and said, "Even now, are you still trying to excuse yourself? As the Crown Prince, you should be responsible for your actions. Let's leave it at that!"

Zhu Houzhao hurriedly said, "Father, Yang, the tutor, will surely be able to explain it clearly!"

The Hongzhi Emperor shook his head, his eyes filled with disappointment.

Just then, footsteps suddenly came from outside the door. Everyone looked over and saw Yang Shen hurriedly walk in and bow down.

"Your humble servant Yang Shen greets Your Majesty!"

The Hongzhi Emperor turned around and said, "You've come at the right time. From now on, you must keep a close eye on the Crown Prince and prevent him from becoming addicted to these unorthodox practices and neglecting important matters."

"Your Majesty, what the Crown Prince has done is by no means any unorthodox or heretical method!"

Yang Shen suddenly adopted a tough tone and directly confronted the emperor.

Upon hearing this, everyone present was stunned, some even thinking they had misheard.

Zhang Sheng's eyes widened in disbelief. He thought to himself, "This kid is too audacious. Even his father, Yang Tinghe, wouldn't dare to be so presumptuous!"

The Hongzhi Emperor's expression changed immediately, and he asked, "What do you mean by that?"

Yang Shen, neither humble nor arrogant, replied, "This is the true principle of investigating things to acquire knowledge!"

The Hongzhi Emperor pointed at the stove and asked, "Investigating things to gain knowledge? Is this all you've come up with? A stove that can't even be lit?"

Yang Shen calmly replied, "Please allow me to explain in detail."

Zhu Houzhao quickly interjected, "Father, Yang, the study companion, will surely be able to explain it clearly!"

The Hongzhi Emperor gave a soft hum, but said nothing more.

Seeing this, Xiao Jing quickly brought over a chair and helped the Hongzhi Emperor sit down.

Yang Shen came to the stove, looked at everyone, and said, "As the ancients said, 'If you drain the pond to catch all the fish, you will not only fail to catch any fish, but you will also have no fish next year.' All things in the world have limited resources. If we only know how to take and do not know how to recycle, there will eventually be a day when resources are exhausted."

"His Highness the Crown Prince carefully observed the strange phenomenon of the latrine explosion. Upon investigation, he realized the wonderful uses of biogas and proposed the idea of ​​building biogas digesters to ferment human and animal excrement and produce biogas for heating. This substance is inexhaustible, clean, and smokeless, far superior to firewood."

The Hongzhi Emperor frowned and said, "You make it sound nice, but where's the fire? Without fire, it's all just empty talk!"

Yang Shen bowed and said, "Your Majesty is right. Practice makes perfect! The failure to ignite the gas just now was not due to a design flaw, but a small oversight. I just checked and found that the feed inlet of the biogas digester was left open."

He then turned to Wang Shouren and continued, "Wang Guanzheng, the biogas digester was only built a few days ago, so the amount of gas produced by fermentation is not much. The biogas escaped because the feed inlet was not closed. I have already shut it off. Please try again."

Wang Shouren suddenly realized: "So that's how it is! I was careless!"

He took a deep breath, took out the tinderbox again, and blew on it gently.

The Hongzhi Emperor remained calm but did not stop them, seemingly wanting to see if the so-called marsh gas could actually be ignited.

All eyes were focused on the small stove.

Turu and Akunda exchanged a glance, their faces still showing disdain.

The Hongzhi Emperor remained expressionless, clenching his fists and holding his breath.

Zhu Houzhao, on the other hand, adopted a desperate stance, staring intently without blinking.

Wang Shouren slowly brought the tinderbox closer to the stove opening, one breath, two breaths, three breaths...

call!

A wisp of blue-green flame silently shot out!

The flame was initially only the size of a bean, flickering erratically, but it quickly stabilized and burned quietly.

Without firewood or coal, it just bounced around in mid-air at the stove opening.