The black and heavy honeycomb briquettes were set up in the blazing charcoal fire. The originally very warm charcoal basin suddenly became not so warm after some of the sparks were blocked!
"Xuan 'er, we don't lack charcoal at home. Why did you bring so many briquettes over? It's very difficult to burn them! "
Li Jingmo frowned.
Although the briquettes that Li Zexuan picked up were a little different in shape, coal was still coal. In Li Jingmo's opinion, no matter what shape it was, it would not be as easy to burn as charcoal.
Li Zexuan smiled and said, "Father, it's true that our family can afford to burn charcoal, but most of the commoners' families can't! Your son is doing good deeds! Moreover, this honeycomb briquettes are not only used to heat the fire. Just watch! "
Li Jingmo saw that his son was going to be stubborn to the end. He shook his head and stopped trying to dissuade him.
However, Madam Li was very attentive. She asked softly, "Xuan 'er, your honeycomb briquettes and stove are specially designed for the poor commoners? If that's the case, Mother supports you! Who knows how many commoners freeze to death in Chang 'an every year. You are doing a great deed! "
Women generally believed in karma. Moreover, ever since Li Zexuan was saved by Spiritual Master Lingxu, Madam Li had become a loyal Taoist believer. At the end of every month, she would go to the Xuandu Temple to pray for peace for her family!
"Little Xuan, Grandmother also supports you! As the saying goes, there are three good deeds in a day, and in three years, there will be blessings. There are three evil deeds in a day, and in three years, there will be disasters! The Li family is now a wealthy family. Only by doing good deeds can we continue to be wealthy! "
Old Madam Ye patted Li Zexuan's arm and smiled kindly.
The Ye family had four generations of Taoists. Under Old Madam Ye's influence, many of the teachings of Taoism were already engraved in her heart. She believed in the cycle of karma more than Madam Li!
"Ha! Thank you, Mother! Thank you, Grandmother! "
Li Zexuan smiled.
He didn't really care about karma or how good deeds would be rewarded. He only did good deeds to give himself peace of mind!
Gradually, after a short while, the blue-yellow flames of the charcoal came out of the coal hole. The inner wall of the coal hole was also burning red. Li Zexuan looked slightly excited as he shouted, "It's done!"
Then, he used a pair of tongs to pick up the honeycomb briquette in the charcoal basin and carefully placed it into the coal stove. Then, he piled another honeycomb briquette on top of the honeycomb briquette. The coal holes between the two honeycomb briquettes overlapped.
After everything was done, he looked at Li Jingmo and said with a smile, "Father, what do you think? This honeycomb briquette doesn't burn any slower than charcoal, right? "
Before Li Jingmo could say anything, Ye Guozhong stared at the honeycomb briquettes on the ground in surprise and exclaimed, "This is amazing! This seemingly useless piece of coal, after Little Xuan's fiddling, actually burned so easily! This can really be considered as turning stone into gold! "
The price of charcoal in the Tang Dynasty wasn't cheap at all, especially at the beginning of the Tang Dynasty. There was a record in the "Old Tang Book", "Tens of thousands of volunteers gathered in the capital. Firewood was expensive, but cloth was cheap." This was referring to the early Tang Dynasty, when the country was just established, all the volunteers gathered in the capital, causing the price of firewood to rise.
Although the price of goods during the Zhenguan Era was cheap, the price of charcoal was basically maintained at seven to eight hundred copper coins per stone (one hundred catties). Good quality smokeless willow wood was even more expensive!
Although seven to eight copper coins per catty of charcoal didn't seem expensive, it was a consumable item! How long could one catty of charcoal burn?
For a wealthy family like the Li Family, they naturally didn't care about the cost of charcoal, but for the common people, burning charcoal was equivalent to burning money! How many families could afford to burn charcoal?
The late Tang Dynasty Taoist poet Cao Tang described the kitchen in a fairyland in his "98 Little Traveling Immortal Poems", "What do the kitchen maids cook? The stove is full of smokeless jade and red charcoal."
In Cao Tang's view, using charcoal to cook was just a beautiful fantasy in fairyland. This poem proved the reality of the use of charcoal at that time. For the common people, using charcoal for cooking was an extremely difficult thing to do.
In fact, during the Tang Dynasty, the consumers of charcoal were mainly the upper class of society. During that time, the relatives of the imperial family and the first to fifth rank officials in the capital were provided with charcoal as part of their salary. During the Tianbao Era, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang even set up positions in the imperial court to be responsible for matters related to charcoal. In the imperial court, there was also the position of charcoal envoy to be in charge of related matters.
It was because of this that Ye Guozhong said that Li Zexuan's honeycomb briquettes were the means to turn stone into gold! After all, those briquettes were difficult to burn in the past. How was it different from stone? But now, after Li Zexuan did this, it completely turned waste into treasure, turning stone into gold! There was a huge amount of wealth behind this honeycomb briquettes!
"What do you mean by turning stone into gold? This is obviously a meritorious deed! Xiao Xuan, this honeycomb briquettes should be cheaper than charcoal, right? "
Old Madam Ye patted Ye Guozhong's arm, then looked at Li Zexuan and asked.
Li Zexuan smiled and nodded. "Of course it's cheaper, and it's cheaper by a lot! Grandma, even if this honeycomb briquettes are sold for only one copper coin, I won't lose out! "
He was now a real nouveau riche. For honeycomb briquettes, he only needed to consider the cost of manpower and transportation. The cost of each honeycomb briquettes was even lower! One copper coin per piece, he really wouldn't lose out!
"Yo! One copper coin per piece? That's really cheap! "
Old Madam Ye was also a discerning person. She estimated that each honeycomb briquettes weighed at least one catty. The price of one catty was less than one copper coin. Compared to charcoal, it was simply too cheap!
"Ah! Brother! The honeycomb briquettes on top are also burning! It's so warm! "
Lan 'er stared at the coal stove for a long time. At this moment, she suddenly shouted. Her little hands touched the outside of the coal stove to warm herself up, and her little face was full of excitement!
Li Zexuan looked at it, then picked up a piece of honeycomb briquettes from the ground and put it into the coal stove. In the end, he said, "This stove usually needs three honeycomb briquettes at the same time, so that the heat can be transferred to the stove! Now that the two briquettes below are already burning, the one above will burn even faster! Xiao He, go to the kitchen and get me a copper kettle, and fill it with water! "
"… Yes, Young Master!"
Xiao He responded and hurriedly pushed open the door and went out.
Ye Fashan guessed Li Zexuan's intention and asked, "Cousin, are you going to boil water on this stove?"
"Mm! That's right! The honeycomb briquettes, other than being used for heating, are also used to boil water and cook rice! And its advantage in this aspect is something that even charcoal can't replace! "
Li Zexuan replied with a smile.
After a while, Xiao He came back with a copper kettle.
The kettles of this era were made of pottery and copper, but their appearance was still very different from the modern kettles. Li Zexuan was too lazy to care about these things now. To him, it was fine as long as it could be used to boil water.
He placed the copper kettle on the stove and opened the lid of the ventilation hole of the coal stove. After a while, the fire in the stove became more vigorous.
In less than a quarter of an hour, there was a "Chi Chi Hu Hu" sound coming from the kettle.
Mrs. Li said in surprise, "This honeycomb briquettes boil water really fast, much faster than firewood!"
Li Zexuan replied, "Mother! Not only does this thing boil water quickly, it also lasts for a long time. Don't look at the three honeycomb briquettes inside. If you only use them to boil water, one honeycomb briquettes can burn for six hours at most. You need to change four honeycomb briquettes a day!
If you only want to keep the coal fire burning and leave a small hole in the ventilation hole, one honeycomb briquettes can burn for about twelve hours. You only need to change two pieces of coal a day. This way, you can avoid the trouble of starting a fire every time! "
Combustion requires a certain environment: combustible, oxygen, and temperature. A single honeycomb briquettes can't be burned because they can't maintain the temperature. Honeycomb briquettes can only burn normally in the stove, and at least two honeycomb briquettes are needed in the stove. A normal household stove needs three honeycomb briquettes at the same time to boil water and cook.
Li Zexuan said all this from his experience.
In his previous life, his family burned honeycomb briquettes for at least ten years, so he knew the characteristics of honeycomb briquettes like the back of his hand!
Beside him, Ye Yuzhu, Old Madam Ye, and the others were all stunned when they heard Li Zexuan's words!
Burning a full day of coal in the stove only requires four honeycomb briquettes, which is four copper coins! If they burned charcoal for a day, it would cost at least a few hundred copper coins! Four copper coins versus a few hundred copper coins, this was a difference of nearly a hundred times!
Even if you don't use charcoal, you still need firewood! The people outside Chang 'an City can go up the mountain to cut firewood, but the people in the city have to pay for the firewood! Calculating the cost of firewood for a day, it was about the same as burning coal!
It has to be said that this honeycomb briquettes really save money! Moreover, this thing doesn't have smoke, so it's many times better than firewood!
"Little Xuan, this is a good thing! You don't know how much effort it will take to boil water and cook with this stove and the honeycomb briquettes! If this thing is sold, the people, regardless of whether their family has money or not, will rush to buy it! "
Madam Li beamed with joy.
When she had married Li Jingmo in her early years, she had changed from a rich young lady who had never done any household chores to a virtuous wife who was capable in both the hall and the kitchen. She knew the difficulties of the kitchen the best.
Before coal and oil were developed and used on a large scale, there was almost no energy source that could compare to the importance of firewood. Firewood was the main source of firewood for cooking! That feeling of being burned by smoke and fire was really a kind of pain!
"Cousin! How much does this stove cost ~? "
Ye Fashan suddenly asked.
Li Zexuan muttered, "This stove is made of pure iron, so it's naturally more expensive. The cost of each stove is about a hundred and fifty copper coins ~! But the lifespan of each stove is at least five years, so there shouldn't be any problems within five years! "
"A hundred and fifty copper coins … five years! If you calculate it carefully, using a stove and honeycomb briquettes to boil water and cook is indeed very cost-effective! But I reckon that many poor people won't be willing to fork out so much money to buy a stove! "
Ye Fashan, who matured early, knew many more things than his peers. He immediately understood what the biggest obstacle was if the coal-burning method was to be implemented on a large scale!
"Little Xuan, can we sell this stove to the people at a loss? Anyway, we don't lack money now, so we can treat it as doing good! "
Madam Li was a kind person. After listening to Ye Fashan's words, she couldn't help but suggest to Li Zexuan.
"Mother! Although I don't care about money, this isn't the way to do good! There are millions of poor people in this world. Even if we spend all our money, it won't make much of a difference! In my opinion, doing good has to be sustainable. We can't just do it once and there won't be a next time! Regarding the price of the stove, I will find another way. Mother, you don't have to worry ~! "
Li Zexuan shook his head.
In his previous life, those world-class tycoons, such as Bill Gates, donated almost all their wealth to a fund under their name for charity! At that time, they had even persuaded Mr. Ma to donate all his assets like them, but Mr. Ma did not agree. This was because Mr. Ma felt that if money was donated to the poor, it would be dead money. Once the poor finished using it, that portion of money would be completely gone. However, the money in his hands was living money. It could be used to create more jobs, help more young people start their own businesses, and even help more poor people!
Li Zexuan felt that Father Ma's approach was very clever!
Although he was rich now, he wasn't rich enough to help all the poor people in the world! Only by constantly accumulating strength could he continue to do good!
"Little Xuan is right! There are too many poor people in this world. If we risk losing money to help all the poor people, it's tantamount to killing the goose that lays the golden eggs. It won't last long ~! But Little Xuan, you said that there's a better way. What is it ~? "
Li Jingmo had been a businessman for half his life. Of course, he understood the stakes. He first agreed with Li Zexuan's opinion, then asked.
In the family, except for Lan 'er, everyone's eyes were on Li Zexuan.
Li Zexuan frowned and thought, then smiled and said, "This method, wait until I come back from a trip to the palace tomorrow! Now that we have the stove, let's eat hotpot tonight ~! "
In the middle of winter, the whole family eating hotpot together around the stove was probably the happiest thing in winter!
Li Zexuan's mind couldn't help but recall the scene of his family eating hotpot during the New Year in his previous life. He felt an inexplicable bitterness in his heart.
"Hotpot? What's hotpot? Can it be eaten? "
Ye Guochong had lived for a long time, but this was the first time he heard the term hotpot. He couldn't help but ask.
Li Zexuan was stunned. He thought to himself, "Is there no hotpot in this era?" After searching the memory of his predecessor, he quickly changed his words. "Ahem! This hotpot is similar to antique soup, but the hotpot that I make is even better! Wife, let's go and help your husband prepare some food ~! "
According to the Book of Wei, in the Three Kingdoms era, when Cao Pi was the emperor, there were already hotpots made of copper, but it wasn't popular at that time. During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, people used hotpots to cook pigs, cows, sheep, chickens, fish, and other kinds of meat. Later, with the increasing economic and cultural development of the country, cooking technology was further developed, and all kinds of hotpots appeared one after another. During the Northern Song Dynasty, hotpot was already available in the taverns of Kaifeng in Bianjing in winter.
However, the hotpot at that time wasn't called hotpot, but antique soup, which got its name from the "gudong" sound when the ingredients were added to the boiling water. It was an original delicacy in China. In Bai Juyi's poem, "Asking Liu Nineteen, green ants new fermented wine, red clay small stove. Late night for snow, can we drink a cup of none? "He vividly described the scene of eating hotpot at that time.
"Okay! Husband! "
Han Yuxi smiled, then quickly got up and followed Li Zexuan to the kitchen.
…
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