As soon as he said this, Ling Ruo remembered that it had indeed rained for a long time since the beginning of summer, and the occasional light rain was only sporadic and short-lived, and the ground had stopped before it was wet; It's just that there has never been a shortage of water in the palace, so I didn't go to my heart. Now that I think about it, the drought should be very serious, otherwise Yinzhen would not have endured the scorching heat and ordered to stop supplying ice.

But don't underestimate the amount of ice used in the Heart Cultivation Palace, three ice cubes a day, each time it is tens of hundreds of catties, and this day is more than two hundred catties of water, which is quite a considerable amount. Of course, the ice used in the entire Forbidden City is even more considerable, and there are thousands of catties. For this reason, every winter, the 18 ice cellars divided into four places store more than 200,000 pieces of ice every year by the Ministry of Industry's Water Division.

After entering the Heart Cultivation Palace, it really felt that the inside was similar to the outside, there was no cool air, and the ubiquitous heat penetrated from the pores, which made people uncomfortable, because Yinzhen was still criticizing the folds, Ling Ruo waited quietly aside, and when Yinzhen raised her head, the tip of her forehead and nose were already covered with fine beads of sweat.

"Is it hot?" When Yinzhen got up, Ling Ruo found that there was a basin of water and a clean face towel in the corner, Yinzhen walked to Ling Ruo after twisting a handful, and carefully wiped the sweat off her face for her, in such a hot day, Yinzhen was still meticulously wearing two layers of clothes, when he was wringing water just now, Ling Ruo saw a large piece of warm behind his back, obviously sweating, "Now there is a drought in Beijing, and there are many places to use water, so I let them avoid the ice of the Heart Cultivation Palace, so it can be used in more needed places." ”

"The emperor is so aware that it is a blessing for the people to suffer from suffering, and even if the concubines receive a little heat, they should be." was wiped with a face towel soaked in cold water, and his mind that originally felt a little dizzy because of the heat surging from the layers was clear, "The concubine is just worried about the emperor's body, so she is stuffy in the house and doesn't open the window, how can she live in case of heat stroke?" ”

"I didn't have anything to do, just now I was afraid that the wind would blow the fold, and it was not easy to read, but now that there is nothing to do, I can naturally open the window." Yin Zhen opened the window as he spoke, and soon a wind blew in, but the wind also carried heat, "Besides, not everyone in the Qing Dynasty in this million-mile territory can afford ice, don't those people also live well?" ”

"Actually, the emperor can wait for the ice to melt before letting people go out of the palace, and the ice water will not hinder the use, but it will be delayed for a few hours."

Yin Zhen sighed: "I don't know this, it's just that these few hours are slower than years for those who are suffering from drought. On this hot day, I was looking forward to drinking a few more sips of water. In order to make the ice cooler and cooler, the palace likes to add a lot of salt to it, how can it be used again. ”

Ling Ruo listened to his words and thought for a while: "The emperor is suffering from this scorching heat, and the concubines really can't bear to be greedy and cool, so he also asks the emperor to subtract the ice cubes from the concubines' share for disaster relief." ”

Yin Zhen glanced at her with relief and said: "I'm very happy that you can think like this, but you don't stand the heat like me, once there is no ice, I'm afraid I won't even be able to sleep, so forget it." ”

Ling Ruo said with a resolute expression: "The emperor can be patient, why can't the concubines ask the emperor to allow the concubines to ask for it." ”

Her words made Yinzhen feel more and more pity, and pulled her to sit down in the chair and said, "I understand what you mean, but even if you cut your use, it's just a drop in the bucket, and it's not very useful." I am going to climb the Temple of Heaven in a few days to ask for rain, hoping that God will have mercy, and all the suffering will fall on me alone, and I must not let the people suffer anymore. Speaking of this, Yinzhen seemed to be preoccupied. If you can't get it, there is no other way than to spend manpower and material resources to get it from afar. The capital is no more than other places, and it is absolutely not allowed to flee.

Ling Ruo lowered his head and turned the palace fan in his hand to ponder for a moment and said: "The emperor is kind-hearted and loves the people like a son, and the heavens will definitely rain down to save the people of Li." But before that, the concubine had an idea, I wonder if the emperor would like to hear it? ”

Yin Zhen was slightly interested, and said, "What is it, but it doesn't hurt to say it." ”

"The strength of one person is meager, but if the strength of many people can be gathered, it is a very considerable force." She paused slightly and said: "Now that there is a shortage of water in Beijing, the concubines and others should do their part, so the concubines think that except for the queen mother and the queen's palace, from the concubines and below, all the palace concubines have reduced the use of ice, from three times to once, and the number has been reduced accordingly, so that there can be more ice for disaster relief, and it should be able to last for a while." ”

Yin Zhen thought about it seriously for a while, nodded slightly, and said: "You are also reasonable, there are as many as 1,000 pieces of ice used in the palace every day, and you can indeed save a lot if you want to save one province." I will let Su Peisheng pass on the decree later, except for Cining Palace, to reduce all the use in the palace, but in this way, I am afraid that many people will come to me to cry. Saying this, Yin Zhen didn't care too much, once he decided something, he would definitely not change it easily, even if countless people objected.

"The concubine believes that your sisters and sisters are reasonable people, and they will definitely not make trouble unreasonably."

Really, wouldn't it? Ling Ruo was not sure, many people in the palace were used to it, and now they suddenly wanted to cut back on ice, and on such a hot day, complaints were categorically indispensable. However, if they come to Yinzhen to complain, they can only be bored.

Yinzhen is not an emperor who only knows how to enjoy, he cares more about the suffering of the people, if someone ignores the suffering of the people because of his own selfishness, he will definitely not be pleasing in front of Yinzhen.

After this incident, Yinzhen asked her a few more words about making incense and vows in Wanshou Temple today, and then finally said his ultimate purpose of calling Ling Ruo over, "Ruo'er, the queen has had a headache recently, and when I went to see her last night, she couldn't even get out of bed, and Hongsheng has been disobedient to the queen's discipline, shouting to go back to Yikun Palace, I don't look good, so I plan to let Hongsheng go to you for a while, and wait for the queen to get better before making plans, what do you think?" ”

Got a headache? Ling Ruo sneered in his heart, who knew if she was really sick or fake, maybe she was troublesome with Hongsheng and wanted to push her out. After all, Hongsheng is fourteen years old, not Hongshi, who is not yet one year old, can be left to her.

It's just that Yinzhen opened this mouth, but she couldn't refuse, so she could only say tactfully: "The concubine has no opinion, but will the queen be careless?" ”

"You can rest assured that this is also the meaning of the queen to let you bring Hongsheng." Hearing Yinzhen say this, Ling Ruo had no choice but to comply and take this hot potato.

Yin Zhen sighed and said: "Hongsheng suddenly left Eniang, it is inevitable that he will be unhappy, you are an elder, just tolerate him more." Alas, if it weren't for the fact that his mother was really wrong, and I was afraid that she would teach Hongsheng badly, how could I have thought that their mother and son had been separated, but it was a pity that Hongsheng didn't understand my painstaking efforts; After several pleadings to no avail, he turned a deaf ear to whatever I said. ”