My Imperial Advisor is ChatGPT

Chapter 37 The Curse of the Black Stone, and the Ghost Lurking in the Chimney

Just as the lingering heat of late summer had passed in Xianyang, a continuous autumn rain brought the temperature down sharply.

Inside a quiet, warm pavilion in the Epang Palace, the air was filled with the faint, bitter scent of burning mugwort. Ying Zheng, dressed in loose white cotton training clothes, lay sprawled on a yoga mat in an extremely strange posture—hands on the ground, waist hunched, head tilted back as high as possible, like an old tortoise basking in the sun.

"Hiss... Huff..."

Ying Zheng adjusted his posture extremely slowly, in sync with the rhythm of his breathing.

"Hu Hai, look at my 'cobra pose' and see if it's done perfectly?" Ying Zheng asked, holding his breath.

Hu Hai, squatting to the side, held a book titled "The Great Qin Royal Yoga Guide" covered with stick figures. It was created by Xiao G based on modern fitness materials, but after being copied by Zhao Gao's clumsy drawing skills, it appeared quite abstract.

"Father, you need to lower your waist a little more and stretch your neck a little longer," Hu Hai said, gesturing as he spoke. "Teacher G said this move is a cure for lumbar muscle strain and cervical spondylosis. You always have your head down when you're reviewing memorials, and your cervical spine is the dragon vein; it needs to be well cared for."

Ying Zheng gritted his teeth and persevered for a while until fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. Only then did he slowly relax his body, lie down on the mat, and let out a long breath.

"That feels good."

Since expelling that tormenting kidney stone, Ying Zheng's belief in "scientific health preservation" has surpassed his desire for the elixir of immortality. After all, becoming an immortal is too ethereal, but the relief from backache and leg pain is undeniably comfortable.

"His Majesty."

Li Si's somewhat anxious voice came from outside the door, breaking the rare tranquility.

Ying Zheng frowned, took the hot towel handed to him by a palace maid, wiped his face, put on a thick woolen cloak, and sat back on the soft couch.

"Come in. Unless something truly terrible happens, you can wait to practice this cobra pose with me."

Li Si pushed open the door and entered, his face even more gloomy than the autumn rain outside. Behind him followed Zhao Gao, whose face was covered in soot, as if he had just crawled out of a stove pit.

"Your Majesty, the sky hasn't collapsed, but the earth is almost bare," Li Si said, bowing with a heavy tone. "The trees around Xianyang have been almost all cut down."

Ying Zheng was taken aback: "Cut down the tree? Who cut it down?"

"They're all cutting down trees." Li Si sighed. "The Imperial Household Department needs firewood to make cement, bricks, salt, and soap. And those hundreds of thousands of workers and merchants who have flooded into Xianyang also need firewood for cooking and heating."

"Now, a bundle of firewood in Xianyang costs fifty coins. To save money, people have started peeling tree bark and digging up grass roots. If this continues, many people will probably freeze to death this winter, or... fight to the death over firewood."

Ying Zheng paused, his hand holding the thermos cup still.

The side effects of industrialization have once again revealed their fangs: the energy crisis.

He looked at Zhao Gao: "Zhao Gao, isn't your chemistry institute working on new fuels? I remember you mentioned that there's a kind of black stone in the north that can burn?"

Zhao Gao knelt down with a thud, his face covered in soot, which was washed away by tears, leaving two white streaks.

"Your Majesty! That black stone...that's a magic stone! We can't use it!"

"A magic stone?" Ying Zheng narrowed his eyes. "What kind of magic does it possess?"

"Your Majesty," Zhao Gao said, trembling, "I followed Teacher G's advice and sent people to Shangjun and Hedongjun to dig up that kind of 'coal.' This stuff is really powerful; it ignites instantly, and the flame is even stronger than charcoal. It's incredibly fast and efficient at burning cement."

"But..." Zhao Gao's eyes revealed deep fear, "This thing is poisonous! It's cursed!"

"A few days ago, the students at Epang Palace University asked for some coal for heating in order to save money. As a result... as a result, this morning, two students never woke up again."

"The coroner examined him; there were no injuries or signs of poisoning. His complexion was rosy, and he had a smile on his lips. He just died in his sleep. Everyone says… he dug up a black stone from underground, disturbing the spirits of the underworld, who came to claim his life!"

The temperature inside the hall seemed to drop several degrees instantly.

In this era, the unknown is fear. The little confidence that people had just built up in "investigating things to acquire knowledge" seemed extremely fragile in the face of rumors of "ghosts and gods taking lives".

"Rosy complexion? Died in his sleep?"

Ying Zheng repeated these words, a chill running down his spine. Although he claimed not to believe in ghosts and gods, he was, after all, an ancient person from two thousand years ago, and instinctively felt fear at such a bizarre way of dying.

"Little G," Ying Zheng asked in a deep voice, "is this a ghost?"

It's not a ghost, it's chemistry.

"Your Majesty, this is called 'carbon monoxide poisoning.'"

When coal burns incompletely, it produces a colorless and odorless gas. If inhaled, this gas locks in the hemoglobin in the blood, preventing it from carrying oxygen and ultimately leading to death from oxygen deprivation.

Because hemoglobin turns cherry red after oxygen deprivation, the deceased appeared to have a rosy complexion, as if they were having a sweet dream.

This is the "Invisible Killer."

After hearing Xiao G's explanation, Ying Zheng's tense nerves relaxed, but what followed was a surge of anger caused by ignorance.

"absurd!"

Ying Zheng slammed his hand on the table, causing the goji berries in the cup to jump around.

"What ghosts and spirits claiming lives? That's 'poisonous gas'! You bunch of idiots just don't know how to burn it!"

He pointed at Zhao Gao and yelled, "As the director of the Chemistry Institute, you can't even figure this out? Have you forgotten everything I told you to memorize—the periodic table?"

"That's carbon! The carbon wasn't burned through; it turned into carbon monoxide! That's poison!"

Zhao Gao and Li Si exchanged glances. Although they didn't understand what carbon monoxide was, judging from His Majesty's confident demeanor, it seemed... there was another solution?

"Li Si, order the Court of Justice to seal off the scene. Don't let the rumors spread any further."

"Zhao Gao, go and seal up that dead man's room for me. I want to see for myself how this 'ghost' killed him."

……

Epang Palace University, student dormitory area.

This place, once filled with the sound of students reciting their lessons, is now shrouded in a somber atmosphere. Students gather in small groups in the courtyard, staring in fear at the house heavily surrounded by black-armored guards.

"Have you heard? Those were Zhang Sheng and Wang Sheng. They were reciting 'The Cement Proportioning Method' last night, and they're gone this morning."

"That's terrible... I heard that a fire demon is hiding in that black stone."

"Hey, I told you this 'investigation of things' is going against the will of Heaven, isn't it? It's safer to just read the classics."

Rumors spread like wildfire, and some timid Confucian scholars even packed their bags and prepared to drop out of school.

"His Majesty has arrived!"

With a loud shout, Ying Zheng, wearing his signature silk mask, strode in. Behind him followed Li Si, Zhao Gao, and Xia Wuqie, who was eagerly holding a magnifying glass.

Ying Zheng walked straight to the door of the room where the incident occurred.

A pungent smell of coal smoke wafted over. Although the windows were open for ventilation, the smell still lingered on the walls and bedding.

The room was simply furnished: two beds, a desk, and a simple mud stove in the middle, still containing grayish-white coal ash.

Ying Zheng covered his mouth and nose and circled the furnace once.

"Are the doors and windows tightly closed?" Ying Zheng asked.

"Your Majesty, the wind and rain were heavy last night, and the students were afraid of the cold, so they covered all the cracks in the windows with paper," a clerk in charge of the dormitory replied tremblingly.

"The stove doesn't have a chimney?"

"A chimney? What's that?" The clerk looked blank. "That's how we used to burn charcoal. You just need a basin."

Ying Zheng sneered.

"That's the cause of death."

He pointed to the stove, then to the ceiling.

"Charcoal produces less smoke and less poison. This coal is much stronger and more poisonous. You locked yourselves in the room with the poisonous gas all night; it's no wonder you died."

"Little G, give me the blueprints."

[Received. File transferred: "Installation Guide for Domestic Coal-Fired Heating Stoves and Chimneys".]

[Also, I recommend this amazing tool: honeycomb briquettes.]

[Coal powder and loess are mixed in a specific ratio and pressed into a perforated cylinder. This results in complete combustion, smokeless and odorless production, and a long burn time.]

Ying Zheng turned to look at Zhao Gao, his eyes like knives.

"Zhao Gao, let me teach you another lesson."

"This black stone is a treasure, but it's a wild horse. You need reins to ride it."

"Go, have the blacksmiths in the Imperial Household Department forge me a kind of sheet metal pipe. Connect it to the furnace and run it out the window."

"Tell the world that the 'ghost' crawled away along the pipe. Without the pipe, the ghost would eat people."

"Also, don't burn the stones directly. Grind the stones into powder, mix in some loess, and make them into these... coal briquettes with holes."

Ying Zheng gestured with his hand to indicate the shape of a honeycomb briquette.

"This is called a 'honeycomb briquette.' With this, plus a chimney, I guarantee there will only be warmth, no ghosts."

Zhao Gao quickly pulled out his notebook and jotted it down, a huge weight lifted from his heart. So that's what happened! As long as it wasn't truly haunted, things would be much easier.

……

The case seems to have been solved.

It was a tragedy caused by ignorance and improper operation.

Ying Zheng was about to leave when suddenly his gaze fell on the bottom of the clay stove.

There was a pile of ashes that had not yet burned completely, but at the edge of the ashes, there seemed to be a little powder of a different color.

It was pale yellow and barely noticeable in the black coal ash.

Ying Zheng stopped in his tracks.

His years as an emperor, coupled with his deep-seated paranoia, made him extremely sensitive to any "abnormality".

"Xia Wuqie." Ying Zheng beckoned.

"Your subject is here."

"Come and see what this is?" Ying Zheng pointed to the yellow powder.

Xia Wuqie leaned closer, picked up a little with a silver needle, smelled it under his nose, and then his expression changed drastically.

"Your Majesty! This...this is datura pollen!"

"And the amount is not small! This stuff has a strong anesthetic effect. If inhaled mixed with coal smoke, it will cause a person to fall into a deep sleep and not wake up, and even... not feel the pain of suffocation!"

Ying Zheng's pupils contracted instantly.

Carbon monoxide can indeed cause unconsciousness and death. But if you add datura... that's double the protection.

This is because they're afraid they won't die completely.

This was not an accident.

This is murder.

Ying Zheng looked around at the simple student dormitory.

"Li Si," Ying Zheng's voice was terrifyingly low, "Investigate him."

"Investigate the backgrounds of these two students. Investigate who was here last night. Investigate who delivered the coal to this stove."

"Some people don't want me to use this black stone. Some people want to use this talk of 'ghosts and gods' to nip my Institute of Natural Sciences and my industrialization in the bud."

"I want to see which kind of deity dares to play tricks under my nose."

……

Three days later, in the prison of the Court of Justice.

A middle-aged man dressed in servant's clothes was tied to a rack, his skin torn and bleeding from the beating.

Li Si held a whip soaked in salt water in his hand and looked at him coldly.

"Confess. Your accomplices have already confessed. That was datura powder, stolen from a caravan from the Western Regions."

"If you reveal the mastermind behind this, I can give you a quick death. Otherwise..." Li Si pointed to the "electrotherapy device" that Zhao Gaoxin had brought over, an improved version of a hand-cranked generator, "that feeling is worse than death."

The servant looked up, his face covered in blood, but he revealed a strange smile.

"The tyrannical Qin Dynasty... was doomed to perish."

"You think you can defy fate and change your destiny with those bizarre techniques? Dream on!"

"The sledgehammer at Bolangsha didn't kill him, and this time the poisonous smoke didn't kill him... but there will be a next time! There will be countless times!"

"Mr. Zhang Liang...will watch you...step by step walk towards your destruction!"

After saying that, the servant gritted his teeth, black blood flowed from the corner of his mouth, his head lolled to the side, and he died.

"A suicide squad member." Li Si examined the patient's mouth. "He has poison hidden in his teeth."

He wiped his hands and walked out of the cell with a gloomy expression.

"Zhang Liang..."

For the Qin Dynasty, this name was a long-forgotten nightmare.

The strongman who nearly struck Qin Shi Huang at Bolangsha back then was instigated by this man. He then disappeared without a trace, but unexpectedly, he has now reappeared like a ghost.

……

Inside the Qilin Hall.

After hearing Li Si's report, Ying Zheng did not fly into a rage. He simply gazed quietly at the gloomy sky outside the window.

"Zhang Liang..."

"An old Korean nobleman. That guy who looks like a woman but has a heart harder than iron."

Ying Zheng turned the walnut in his hand.

"He hasn't given up yet. In fact, he's started to 'investigate things'."

"He knows how to use poisonous smoke and how to exploit people's fear of the unknown. This shows that my enemies are also evolving."

"That's good."

Ying Zheng's lips curled into a cold smile.

"If your opponents are too stupid, the game isn't fun."

"Pass down the order."

"First, the use of honeycomb briquettes and corrugated iron chimneys will be promoted nationwide. These will be exclusively operated by Liu Bang's 'Great Qin Gas Company.' The goal is to ensure that every household in Xianyang has them before winter."

"I want to show Zhang Liang that his wicked schemes will ultimately be turned into a business that benefits the people."

"Secondly, mobilize the entire Black Ice Guard. Dig three feet into the ground, and find this Zhang Liang for me."

"Tell Xiang Yu that his Iron Pagoda Cavalry should stop galloping around on the grasslands. They should patrol Guanzhong and the former territories of the six states."

"Anyone found to be acting suspiciously or spreading rumors about ghosts and gods should be arrested first."

"I want to see whether his schemes and tricks are faster or my industrial wheels are faster."

……

A conspiracy against the "Black Stone" was thus thwarted by Ying Zheng using "chimneys" and "honeycomb briquettes".

That winter, although the sky over Xianyang became somewhat gray, the houses were warmer than ever before.

The people used cheap and durable honeycomb briquettes to warm themselves around the tin stove, while cursing the "Zhang Liang" who wanted to kill them all.

"Have you heard? That Zhang Liang is a monster! He's trying to poison our college students with poisonous smoke!"

"Bah! Thanks to His Majesty's wisdom, the chimney was invented! With this chimney erected, the monster's magic is rendered ineffective!"

Ying Zheng once again firmly occupied the high ground of public opinion.

And in an unnamed cave.

A handsome young man with melancholy eyes looked at the information about "honeycomb briquettes" in his hand and let out a long sigh.

"Ying Zheng... what kind of person are you really?"

Why is it that every single one of my schemes ends up becoming a weapon in your hands?

Zhang Liang threw the intelligence into the brazier.

The firelight illuminated his wise yet slightly weary face.

"Since assassination doesn't work, and poisoning doesn't work either..."

"Then let's try another method."

Zhang Liang looked westward.

"I've heard that Modu Chanyu of the Xiongnu is now ruling as king in the Western Regions?"

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend."

"Ying Zheng, this game of chess isn't over yet."

……

Inside the Xianyang Palace, Ying Zheng had just finished his rope skipping for the day.

He wiped his sweat, looking at the slightly fluctuating "Industrial Index" on the screen, and was in a good mood.

"Little G".

"We have coal, we have iron, and even though the rubber is just cobbled together from eucommia gum, we still have it."

"Shouldn't we put that 'steam engine' on the agenda?"

"I want to see what a carriage that can run without horses and a ship that can sail without sails looks like."

Your Majesty, everything is ready except for the final push.

[The East Wind is... Zhao Gao's sealing technology and the Mohist piston craftsmanship.]

Once these two things are settled, the Qin Dynasty's "steam age" will truly begin.

Ying Zheng looked at the first snowflake falling outside the window, his eyes burning with a flame hotter than coal.

"Then let this fire burn even brighter."