HCB Chapter 79 No Regrets When All Strength is Exhausted
Chapter 79 No Regrets When All Strength is Exhausted
Yinzhen naturally trusted his sixth brother's words, but he was also puzzled as to why the same thing, which was a miraculous medicine that made people feel like they were living in heaven and dying, became a deadly poison that made people tremble with fear in his sixth brother's eyes.
Yinzhi was never one to keep secrets, so he asked the same question as he thought. Yinzhi was afraid that Yinzhi might succumb to temptation and actually ingest the drug, so he made it sound as serious as possible.
"Your cousin is right. This opium can indeed make you feel like you're living the highs and lows, like you're in heaven. But that's just a temporary pleasure. Once you touch it, you'll soon find yourself unable to live without it. Long-term use of this opium will definitely lead to addiction. This stuff will slowly erode your body. In just a few years, you'll become skin and bones, with a dull gaze, drooling, and weak limbs. You still want to draw a bow and shoot arrows, ride a horse and fight? Dream on. At that point, without opium, you'll be no different from a dog. Do you know what those addicts will do for a puff of opium? Let me tell you, squandering their entire fortune is the bare minimum. They'll sell their children, that's for sure. Their final fate is nothing more than broken families and ruined lives. So, tenth brother, you must remember this: don't touch this stuff. And don't hang out with your cousin too much in the future. Don't let him lead you to do something reckless. Then no one can save you. Got it?"
Yin was quite frightened by what his sixth brother said about him being skin and bones, having a dull gaze, and drooling at the corners of his mouth. If what his sixth brother said was true, then what difference was there between him and becoming a fool who couldn't even kill a chicken? He wanted to become a general like his eldest brother who could gallop across the battlefield. If he couldn't draw a bow or ride a horse, what kind of battlefield would he go to?
"Sixth Brother, don't worry, I will definitely listen to you from now on and never go out and hang out with my cousin and the others. I didn't know the dangers of this opium before, and I thought it was something good. Now that you've said this, if anyone dares to give me this stuff to suck, I'll have them thrown out immediately. Isn't that just harming people?"
Seeing that Yinzhen was frightened by his words, Yinzhuo felt more at ease. It was good that he knew fear; when people have fear in their hearts, they will be more cautious in their actions and less likely to act recklessly.
"Alright, let's go back first. You wait for me here and don't go anywhere. I'll go to Qianqing Palace by myself."
On his way to the Qianqing Palace, Yinzhuo's mood was heavy. After all, he had studied the century of national humiliation and knew the horrors of opium. Although he knew that this stuff had existed since the Tang Dynasty, he had always thought that it was mostly used in small amounts as medicine in daily life, and that it would not become popular in the Qing Dynasty until the mid-to-late Qing Dynasty. But now it seemed that he was too optimistic.
Since transmigrating to the Qing Dynasty, Yinzhuo's goal has been to eat and drink and live the life of a playboy, fearing that this butterfly, which does not belong to this era, might flap its wings too much and completely distort the established history.
As for Yinzhuo himself, he didn't really care whether the Qing Dynasty would fall or not, because he knew very well that he wouldn't live to see the day the Qing Dynasty collapsed. As for his descendants, Yinzhuo thought that even if there were descendants by then, who would remember him? At most, people would mention that his ancestor was the sixth son of the Kangxi Emperor when they were bragging. So, he usually avoided the court and politics as much as possible. But now he didn't want to avoid this matter, nor could he. It was precisely because he knew how humiliating that period of history was that he didn't want to walk that path again a hundred years later. Yinzhuo also thought that if he went to talk to Kangxi about these things now, it might not change anything, but as the saying goes, do your best and leave the rest to fate. If you've experienced it all, you won't have any regrets.
Upon arriving at the gate of the Qianqing Palace, Yinzhi did not go in directly as usual. Instead, he took a deep breath to calm himself down, straightened his clothes which had been wrinkled from pulling Yinzhi earlier, and then strode in. When he arrived, Kangxi was reviewing memorials. Hearing the noise, he looked up and saw that it was Yinzhi. He put down his brush and beckoned him over.
"I heard you took Yinzhen and the others hiking the other day, and you were exhausted when you came back. Why are you like this today... wait, you look so pale today. Are you feeling unwell, Liang Jiugong..."
At this moment, Yinzhuo was preoccupied with how to bring up the matter of the longevity ointment with Kangxi. With something weighing on his mind, his mood was heavy, and his complexion was not good. When he saw Kangxi's expression, he knew that he had misunderstood that he was unwell and wanted Liang Jiugong to fetch the imperial physician, so he quickly spoke up.
“Don’t worry, Father. Your son is in good health. He came here today to show you something.”
Yinzhuo placed the box that Yinxi had just brought on Kangxi's desk and pushed it in front of him. Kangxi didn't know what was in the box, but seeing Yinzhuo's serious expression, he couldn't help but become serious as well. However, when he opened the box and saw the exquisitely crafted opium pipe inside, he was still stunned. He really didn't understand why it was just an exquisitely crafted ornament. Although it looked valuable, it shouldn't have made Yinzhuo's expression so bad.
"This thing is well-made. Where did you get it?"
Well, it seems that Kangxi wasn't very familiar with this kind of opium, otherwise he wouldn't have seen the opium pipe and not know what it was. So he reached out and pointed to the small box that was still in the big box.
"Father, you are so knowledgeable, have you ever heard of this 'longevity balm'?"
Emperor Kangxi had naturally heard of the drug "Fushou Gao" (a type of medicated plaster), but he clearly did not realize the kind of disaster it would bring to the land in the future, so he did not take it seriously at the time.
"I know, this stuff is said to be very effective at stimulating and improving sleep, similar to snuff..."
Good heavens, this is snuff? Are these the same thing? One is a medicinal herb, and the other is a drug.
"Does Khan know that this opium is addictive? Do you know what it's like for someone addicted to this opium to experience withdrawal symptoms?"
As an emperor who had ruled the country for many years, Kangxi may not have known what it was like for someone addicted to this longevity ointment to experience withdrawal symptoms, but he heard and understood what Yinzhuo said clearly. He said it was addiction, so this longevity ointment was not a medicine, but a poison.
"Yinzuo, are you saying this ointment is poisonous?"
Yinzhuo's answer was unwavering and resounding. He cleared his throat and spoke very seriously.
"Yes, Father, as far as I know, this opium is indeed a poison, not a medicine. It can indeed refresh the mind and improve sleep when taken in small amounts, but the dosage is very difficult to control. Once you continue to use it for a period of time, you will become addicted, your intelligence will gradually decline, your eyes will become dull and lifeless, and in severe cases, you will not be able to distinguish between reality and illusion. Moreover, as long as you stop using it, you will feel uncomfortable all over, as if countless ants are gnawing at your soul, which is extremely painful."