The ministers whispered. None of them had seen this thing before, had no clue, and couldn't guess it at all. Seeing the toothbrush in his hand, Ning Chen thought of a riddle and said with a smile: "I will give you a riddle. If you guess it correctly, you will get a prize!" "A creature is born seven inches long, with hair on one end and hair on the other, and a collection of daily necessities...guess what it is?" The expressions of all the civil and military officials suddenly froze. Some people looked at Ning Chen with contempt, while others secretly cursed him for being vulgar. "Master Fan is very knowledgeable, do you know the answer to the riddle?" Fan Taihe's face was full of disdain, and he thought to himself that even if he knew it, I couldn't tell him in court? "Hmph, I read the books of sages, and I am not only an official of the imperial court, but also a scholar... How can I answer such a vulgar and obscene riddle of yours?" Ning Chen smiled slightly and didn't care.
He looked at the Right Prime Minister, "Your Excellency, can you guess the answer to the riddle?" The right prime minister looked contemptuous and snorted coldly, "I don't even bother to answer such a despicable and obscene riddle." Ning Chen just smiled and looked at the civil and military officials, "Can you gentlemen guess the answer to the riddle?" The ministers looked with disdain on their faces, as if we were all literati and refused to answer such obscene questions. Ning Chen looked at Emperor Xuan, "Can your Majesty guess the answer?" Emperor Xuan twitched the corner of his mouth and was about to tell Ning Chen to stop messing around, but a spokesman stood up and scolded him, "Master Ninghou, this is the court, not a place with fireworks and willows. Please be careful what you say!" Another speaker stood up and said, "Your Majesty! Lord Ning is vulgar and obscene. He has insulted the holy place of the court and shall be severely punished." "Your Majesty, Ning Chen is so vulgar in the court, which is an insult to gentleness. I beg your Majesty to punish him severely." "Your Majesty, I sincerely request that Ning Chen be punished for the crime of disrespect." "I second the proposal!" "I also second the proposal!" Emperor Xuan frowned and looked at Ning Chen, thinking to himself that this boy should be beaten, talking nonsense in the court, what kind of behavior would he have? Ning Chen looked innocent, "I don't understand what you are saying. Why am I so vulgar and disrespectful?" He held up the two things in his hand, "The white paste in the container is toothpaste, and this small brush is a toothbrush... These two things are used to clean teeth and maintain oral hygiene." "Your Majesty, can I have a glass of water? I would like to demonstrate this for Your Majesty and all of you." Emperor Xuan nodded slightly and asked someone to bring him a glass of water. Ning Chen dipped his toothbrush in toothpaste and some water, then put it in his mouth and brushed it back and forth. After a while, his mouth was filled with white foam. After brushing for a while, Ning Chen finished rinsing his mouth and showed his big white teeth to Emperor Xuan and the ministers.
Then, he walked up to Li Hanru and breathed a sigh of relief at him. Li Hanru: "???" "Master Li, what does it smell like?" Li Hanru thought for a moment and said, "It seems to smell like mint." "Yes, it's mint flavor!" Ning Chen looked at Emperor Xuan and said, "Your Majesty, this toothpaste can not only clean your teeth, but also keep your breath fresh." "Toothpaste also has a function, which is to reduce swelling and relieve pain. For example, applying ointment to minor injuries such as burns has a very good therapeutic effect." Emperor Xuan and his ministers were very interested in this toothpaste. On weekdays, they use coarse salt and plant ash to clean their teeth. Cleaning their teeth is a complete torture. So this toothpaste is great for them. Ning Chen looked at Emperor Xuan and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, the answer to the riddle I just said is toothbrush." Emperor Xuan's face turned red and his expression stiffened. Ning Chen looked at Fan Taihe and said, "Master Fan, everyone saw the process of brushing my teeth just now... May I ask what is so vulgar and rude that it is an insult to gentleness?" Fan Taihe and the officials who had just criticized Ning Chen all turned red in the face, feeling unbearable with shame and anger. The civil and military officials lowered their heads and said nothing, their faces full of embarrassment... They also thought wrong just now. Fan Taihe hesitated for a long time, unable to say a word. He knew that Ning Chen did it on purpose, but there was nothing he could do about it. The mystery that Ning Chen said is weird if you don't want to twist it. Ning Chen stared at Fan Taihe, and suddenly thought of something? "Master Fan, did you think wrongly just now? Did you think about things between men and women?" "My lords, are you thinking wrong? No way, no way... You are literati, how can you have such dirty and indecent ideas?" "Oh my God! It's unbelievable. When you brush your teeth, you can all think about things between men and women... How can you still be a scholar? Sure enough, elegance is not pretending, but grandson is pretending... Bah, a bunch of vulgar, obscene, and dirty people Experts, I would rather be ashamed to be with you.” Ning Chen understands the yin and yang of strange things. The words, overtly sarcastic and understated, made the civil and military officials in the court bloodshot, their cheeks twitching, and they were dying of shame and anger. Emperor Xuan coughed a few times strategically and said with a straight face: "Ning Chen, please don't be arrogant in the court!" Normally, Emperor Xuan would be happy to see Ning Chen scolding these officials. But it can't work now, because he also thought wrong just now, and Ning Chen's overtly sarcastic words also scolded him as the emperor. Ning Chen said obediently, and then began to introduce fine salt. In fact, fine salt needs no introduction.
After Ning Chen finished speaking, they were discussing who should be responsible for cooperating with Wu Guo? Standing in the court, except for those who complained about the officials, the rest of the officials were the best among the best. These three things will definitely explode. Whoever is responsible for cooperating with Wu Guo is equivalent to controlling the treasury. In particular, toothpaste and fine salt are consumables. Once these things are sold, there will definitely be a lot of money. This is a big piece of fat meat, everyone wants to take a bite... Even if they can't bite it, they can get their hands dirty by touching it. Therefore, all civil and military officials want to seize the sales rights of these things. Like sharks smelling blood, they volunteered to be responsible for cooperating with Wu State. There was a lot of noise in the court. Emperor Xuan was headached by the noise and glanced at Eunuch Quan. Eunuch Quan understood, stepped forward, and said in a shrill voice: "Silence." The court suddenly became quiet. Emperor Xuan looked at Ning Chen, "You facilitated the peace talks with Wu State and opened up the trade route. You also brought these things back. Who do you think is the right person to be responsible for this matter?" Nonsense, of course I am responsible, is there any need to say that? Ning Chen complained in his heart. But what he said was: "Your Majesty! First of all, these three things must be owned by the state and cannot become private property." "Second, although the things were brought back by me, everything I have belongs to your Majesty, so no matter who your Majesty assigns to be in charge, I will fully support your Majesty's decision." The Emperor nodded with satisfaction, waved his hand, and said: "We will discuss this later... Dismissal!" Ning Chen was dumbfounded. Shouldn't your Majesty directly give it to him? In fact, the Emperor did not want to give it to Ning Chen, but although Ning Chen was both civil and military, doing business had nothing to do with these two things. The Emperor did not know whether he could do business? That's why he said he would discuss it later.