Cart after cart of coal face was sent to the designated place to be filled with water. Old Man Pi and the other two stopped performing and telling stories to the tourists. They all went over to see what Xiao Bao and Cuckoo were going to do.
"Are they going to use the coal pancakes? This is something I've only seen the Zhang Family and Wang Family tell others how to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning when they were burning kang beds on the north side of the Yellow River. The people here don't burn kang beds. "
Old Man Pi looked at the busy people and said to himself.
"Let's see." Old Man Chang had only slept on a kang bed when he came to the capital before the New Year. It was hard and he wasn't used to it, but it was warm. He couldn't figure out what Xiao Bao and Cuckoo were going to do with the large amount of coal face, so he stood at a high place to watch.
Once the coal face was sent to the place, the people in the inner courtyard of the Zhang family organized people to work. They didn't hide it, so anyone who wanted to watch could watch. In addition to the coal face, there was also yellow mud, straw, sorghum stalks, wheat stalks, and charcoal powder left over from burning charcoal at home.
The iron molds that had been made long ago were moved outside and put down. Then they began to play with the clay. Someone was in charge of the clay, and someone was in charge of recording. According to different proportions, 100 clay balls mixed with various materials were made of each proportion. They were put into the molds and pressed into cylinders with many holes in the middle.
After more than half an hour, more than 30 cylinders of different proportions were made. They were placed outside to dry, and there were people to watch over them.
Old Man Yao pulled a maid of the Zhang family over. "Xiaotao, what are you doing?"
"In reply to Old Man Yao, the young master and young lady are making honeycomb briquettes to see which proportion is good and which is cost-effective. In the future, we will specially make them for boiling water and cooking. There will be special furnaces with one hole, four holes, and even nine holes. We will arrange according to the number of people.
The coal face is not valuable, and the other things are not valuable either. The honeycomb briquettes can save firewood and feed. The most important thing is that they are convenient to use and won't easily cause a big fire. "
The maid didn't hide anything and answered all the questions.
"What's the use of saving firewood?" Old Man Yao still couldn't understand.
"It can be used to make charcoal. Charcoal has more uses, and its price is much higher than honeycomb coal. Most importantly, the more difficult the Yellow River is, the less likely it is to use coal. It is used in the north. Coal is a waste of face, and the rice straw can be used to distill wine. Even if people don't drink it, it can be used in other aspects."
This time, the servant girl, Xiao Tao, didn't speak loudly. Instead, she moved closer to Old Man Yao's ear and whispered to him.
Old Man Yao Weiwei was stunned, "Straw can also be distilled? Even so, you guys still have to surround this place. Now that you've all seen it, it's easy for others to learn it. Don't tell me they're talking about it from the stove? "
"If the Young Master says it can be done, then it can be done. The Young Master said that after distilling the straw, it can be made into paper. It would be a pity to burn the good straw and other stalks to feed the cows.
You don't have to keep this a secret. The stove is easy to make. You just need to take a look at it. When you get the best ratio, you can post a notice to let others know how to use coal to make honeycomb briquettes. We can use the saved stalks to set up purchase and processing points in various places. Our family has never kept anything that concerns the livelihood of the people a secret. "
The servant girl knew quite a lot. She answered another question from Old Man Yao.
The three old men chose to believe her last sentence. If it was said that it wasn't kept a secret, then it really wasn't kept a secret. She had already taken out the methods of raising poultry, interplanting, and rearing. She had also handed over the methods of building greenhouses in the north. However, those were only handed over when the Zhang Family and Wang Family didn't need to rely on such methods to earn money or when they needed to exchange benefits.
Now, was this honeycomb briquettes prepared to be exchanged for benefits, or was it because they didn't need to rely on it to earn money? It was hard to figure out.
Perhaps because she also felt that what she said was a little untenable, the servant girl, Xiao Tao, explained, "Actually, doing this in Boxin County has another purpose, and that is to attack the Four Seas Academy's cross-industry economic strategy. A few days ago, when they came to sell the silver ore, they had a series of plans.
However, they encountered the Little Young Master and didn't wait for their plans to be connected before they were cut off. However, there was still a little trouble after that. The forest they bought and the straw they had to buy at a high price will cause the county to have a shortage of firewood for a certain period of time. Transporting firewood from other places will increase the cost.
The Little Young Master's intention is to let others know that as long as he is still around, don't think of using methods to attack the people of the Great Tang to obtain personal benefits. Don't think that you'll get lucky and won't give you any chances. Even if it's just a short-term scheme on firewood and straw, it's better to give up on this idea as soon as possible. "
When she said these words, Xiao Tao raised her head proudly, as if saying that the world was so big, who else but her could do it?
The three old men understood. It turned out that Xiao Bao was angry because the people from the Four Seas Academy still dared to come and find trouble with him after finding out that he was an official in Boxin County. Furthermore, they didn't admit defeat and retreat. He wanted to specifically target the other party once, using the effect of knocking the mountain to scare the tiger and killing the chicken to warn the monkey.
It was to tell those who didn't have such thoughts that they shouldn't play tricks in front of him. If they played tricks, as long as he went over, they would have to retreat. There was no room for negotiation.
Old Man Chang laughed. "Haha, good. You're domineering enough. You can match up to Cuckoo."
"It seems that the two of them have indeed inherited the true skills. The most important thing is not simply to defeat others. If it's just to defeat, my good granddaughter Xin Er can also do it. The main thing is that Xiao Bao didn't forget to take the people's livelihood into consideration when he was dealing with his opponent. It's hard to find a hidden plan, but it's hard to find one after another.
Yes, the Zhang family is the same as the expert who taught him. At the very least, he should kill two birds with one stone. Otherwise, he won't be calculating and will have to rely on the two of them in the future. "
Old Man Pi, who understood the way the Zhang Family and the Wang Family did things, was now relieved. He felt that even if the expert behind the Zhang Family and the Wang Family died, they didn't have to worry about not having an heir. When the time came, when Xiao Bao and Cuckoo grew up and taught their skills to others, generations of the Tang Empire wouldn't have to worry about sudden crises in the future.
Unless the emperor was muddle-headed, such a thing probably wouldn't happen. If the current emperor was muddle-headed, perhaps the experts from the Zhang Family and the Wang Family could … could … Li Xun? He couldn't think about this anymore.
Thinking of something, Old Man Pi couldn't help but tremble. At the same time, he had a trace of fear for the Zhang Family and the Wang Family.
Old Man Pi wasn't like Old Man Pi, who had followed the Zhang Family and the Wang Family since Sanshui County. He didn't know the two families as well as the Old Man Pi. He didn't know that the Zhang family had always been scheming. When a scheme was used, it was never just for one purpose. Moreover, when the scheme was used, it was hard for people to figure it out. When people saw it, they couldn't stop it even if they wanted to.
For example, the promotion of Sanshui County from Zhongxian County to Shangxian County. All of these were laid out little by little when people didn't expect it.
After he fell ill and almost died, he was brought to Shuzhou and gradually integrated into the lives of the Zhang Family and the Wang Family. Compared to Old Man Pi, he was much worse, but he still knew some of the situation. For example, the construction of Shuzhou, the arrangement of the dam being breached, and various methods in Yizhou.
When he first learned about Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan, they were in two different wars. When the two joined forces, not only did they win the two wars, but they also schemed against the Tubo Empire. They exchanged a lot of livestock for Jiannan Dao at a low price. At that time, no one would have thought that they would immediately counterattack after defeating the Tubo Empire's economic war.
According to this, Xiao Bao probably still had a backup plan.
Thinking of this, Old Man Yao asked the servant girl, Xiao Tao, "Apart from this, what else?"
"What else? What else? " Xiao Tao asked in return. She lowered her head and thought for a while before saying, "Maybe there's more. I heard the young master and the young lady mention that in the future, they should make more paper and continue to study printing. This way, more people won't have to worry about paper. Bad paper can be used to make things to hold eggs. It's convenient to transport them and can be used to build houses.
I don't know about the rest, but there should be more. The young lady and the young master discussed this matter for three days. Similarly, it shouldn't take that long. "
'That means there's more,' the three old men thought at the same time.
After so many things were settled, the three old men were in a good mood. Seeing that the honeycomb coal wouldn't dry up in a short time, they ran to the model to have fun. They were very happy.
*****
Some people were happy, while others were sad.
Zhang Shuo was now worried about who he should send to Xin Cai County. Firstly, it had to be his own people. Secondly, it had to be someone who could take care of things independently and know when to advance and when to retreat. In the future, Xin Cai County wouldn't be as simple as it was now.
"Zishou, help me think about who should be sent to Xin Cai County. It has to be someone who is really capable and can do practical things. He has to be able to deal with the business of the Zhang Family and the Wang Family. He has to be able to not restrict the business of the Zhang Family and the Wang Family. What if we send a hothead who doesn't find the fault with the original county magistrate and acts against the business of the Zhang Family and the Wang Family first? Then, we'll be in big trouble."
Zhang Shuo didn't have an idea at the moment, so he turned to ask Zhang Jiu Ling, who he had called to discuss this matter with.
Zhang Jiu Ling was also worried. He really didn't want to get involved. He didn't want to offend either side. Could the Zhang Family and the Wang Family stop them? Even the Emperor could only use conditions in exchange, let alone others.
When he heard Zhang Shuo's question, he had no choice but to say, "Just send an obedient person with two nimble assistants to investigate the accounts of Xin Cai County. However, it can't involve Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan, let alone Prince Tong 'an. After dealing with Feng Changgong and the others, just put away your thoughts and do your job properly.
If you run into any trouble, ask Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan for advice. Don't act on your own accord. Just like the officials in Lu Zhou, as long as you follow the rules, you won't run into any trouble. "
Zhang Shuo had also thought of this point. However, he was worried that Yu Wenrong would object and make things difficult for him behind his back. Therefore, he retreated in order to advance. He gave up his position and didn't let the person he arranged go over. Instead, he sent the person on his side who was not capable to Xin Cai and waited to watch the show.
On his side, there weren't many people who could really do things. There were people who could do things and had passed the imperial examinations. For example, those who passed the imperial examinations in Jianjia Academy would be easy to use. However, they weren't his people. They were from the Zhang Family and the Wang Family. No, definitely not.
After pondering for a long time, Zhang Shuo sighed to Weiwei and said, "Officials of grade six and above can't go. We can only send people from grade six to grade nine. Just the six of them. Write down three names first. As for the other three, we'll bring them up when others object."
"Alright." When Zhang Jiu Ling saw that Zhang Shuo had already made up his mind, he knew it was useless to object.
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