The next day, Ren Baqian woke up, washed up, and started to pack his things. After he was done preparing, he went to see the empress.
This time, the place wasn't Yangxin Palace Hall but the Throne Room. This was his first time here.
When he arrived, the empress was sitting on the highest golden chair. There were already a few people standing below her.
"Greetings, Your Majesty." After Ren Baqian greeted them, he stood obediently at the side and sized up the rest of them. One of them was a burly man wearing iron armor and holding a helmet with a feather on it. His skin was bronze in color, and he looked to be in his thirties. He was a Rank 6 military official.
There were two other people. One of them was in his forties and had a big beard. He was looking at Ren Baqian from head to toe.
There was another person who looked to be in his thirties or forties. Compared to the aboriginals, he was slightly skinny, but compared to Ren Baqian, he was considered a burly man.
The former was the official robe of the third rank, while the latter was the official robe of the fifth rank.
"Ren Baqian!" The empress's cold voice came from above.
"I'm here." Ren Baqian promptly took a few steps forward and faced the empress.
"Storyteller Ren Baqian of Qingxin Palace Hall is rather talented and devoted to his duty. He was promoted to the position of Imperial Deputy Prefect. I'll take up the post immediately. "
Ren Baqian was stunned at first. Then, he knelt on one knee and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty."
He was a little stunned. He had only been here for less than two minutes, and he was already promoted. Furthermore, it was a Deputy Imperial Deputy Prefect who was directly promoted from Minor Eighth Rank to Minor Fifth Rank. This speed was faster than riding a rocket.
It had been less than three months since Ren Baqian arrived in this world, but he had already walked the path that others would take a lifetime to walk.
It was very difficult for ordinary officials and generals to be promoted so quickly, no matter how great their contributions were.
However, the other three were not surprised.
After all, everyone knew his identity. If there were no accidents, he would become a prince in the future. His current official position was just a transition.
Moreover, His Majesty had promoted him to Imperial Deputy Prefect, which meant that he was in charge of the affairs of the palace, which was different from the duties of the six ministries of the imperial court and the military.
"This time around, Imperial Deputy Prefect Ren Baqian will be in charge, and Tao Jiyuan will be assisting him. They will patrol Mount Damo and Mount Liucui and think of ways to increase the production of iron ore. If there are results, we will definitely reward you generously. "
"Yes, Your Majesty." Ren Baqian and Tao Jiyuan bowed and complied.
After hearing these words, Ren Baqian knew why the empress wanted to promote him. If he were to be in charge of the iron mine, his position as a Secondary Class Eighth Rank officer would be too low.
He would be promoted to the Secondary fifth-rank, the same rank as the Ordnance Department's director. Coupled with his special status, it would be more appropriate for him to be in charge.
"Guard Teng Ji of the Yi Wei School, bring 300 winged cavalry warriors with you to protect them along the way. If anything happens, you will be held responsible," the empress said coldly.
The armored general immediately complied.
He naturally knew who the empress wanted him to protect.
If both of them were to encounter danger at the same time, Ren Baqian was afraid that he would have to bring Deputy Prefect Ren back.
Otherwise, he would really have to raise his head to see the world.
"Go back and prepare. We will set off after noon. Ren Baqian, stay behind." After the empress finished speaking, Tao Jiyuan and Teng Ji left one after another.
"This is Feng Hou from the Ordnance Department. I have something to ask you."
"Greetings, Chief of the Department of Ordnance." Ren Baqian turned around and cupped his hands.
"Deputy Prefect Ren, I would like to ask if you have any confidence in expanding the production of iron ore?" Feng Hou turned around and looked at Ren Baqian.
"That depends on the iron ore content and distribution. If it's just mining, there should be a way, "Ren Baqian said after thinking for a while.
"I heard from Her Majesty that Deputy Prefect Ren has a way to smelt iron ore and forge weapons? I wonder if you can tell me so that I can be prepared, "Feng Hou asked again.
"The main problems in smelting iron ore are insufficient temperature and unstable temperature. The simple method is to use bellows. However, for a long period of time, we will need a steelmaking furnace to continuously smelt steel. This process is very simple, the equipment requirements are low, and the stability is high.
If the produced steel has low carbon content and fewer impurities, it can be forged directly. This saves a lot of manpower compared to forging by hand, "Ren Baqian explained.
"What is bellows? What is a steelmaking furnace? What is steel? "Feng Hou frowned and asked three questions in a row.
With regards to this husband chosen by Her Majesty, he had the same opinion as everyone else in the imperial court. They all looked down on him. Otherwise, everyone wouldn't have objected to it back then.
On one hand, he was too weak. On the other hand, other than bootlicking, he didn't seem to have any other abilities.
This morning, Her Majesty summoned them over and said a few things.
Her Majesty wanted to increase the production of iron ore.
Not only Her Majesty, but the entire Ministry of Works had also racked their brains but still couldn't come up with a good solution. The two iron mountains were simply too difficult to mine.
For so many years, they had been mining slowly like this. Countless people racked their brains to no avail. Everyone felt that this was the only way.
This time, Her Majesty let Ren Baqian take charge and patrol the mines to find a solution.
If that was the case, Ren Baqian wouldn't say anything and let him do it. In any case, the Department of Military Arms would benefit from it and it didn't matter if it didn't succeed.
However, from what Her Majesty said, Ren Baqian was going to intervene in the smelting and forging of weapons. In that case, Ren Baqian couldn't just let him do it. If Ren Baqian intervened, what could he do as the head of the Department of Military Arms?
Furthermore, did Ren Baqian really know how to mine, smelt, and forge weapons?
If Ren Baqian was really capable, everyone in the Department of Military Arms would listen to him. Otherwise, Feng Hou wouldn't allow Ren Baqian to intervene in the Department of Military Arms.
Therefore, he suggested to ask Storyteller Ren.
Ren Baqian didn't mind. Instead, he explained in detail,
"You can try the bellows. It's a big box with a handle and a push board on one side and an air inlet. Then, a person will push and pull from one side to send air through.
The air is full of oxygen, and with enough oxygen, the fire will burn better. Furthermore, if someone keeps pushing and pulling, the fire will be more stable and the temperature will be higher, making it easier to smelt … "Ren Baqian roughly explained.
"As for the steelmaking furnace, first of all, what is steel? If ordinary iron is used to forge weapons, it will be very brittle. Therefore, it needs to be forged to remove the impurities and reduce the carbon content. In the end, the result is actually steel …
The steelmaking furnace directly removes the impurities during the smelting process, reducing the carbon content, and directly smelting the steel. This way, you can at least save the time and effort of hammering and forging … "Ren Baqian explained.
Feng Hou frowned as he didn't understand. The things that Ren Baqian said made him feel that it was awesome even though he didn't understand it.
He had been in the Department of Military Arms for more than ten years. Even if he didn't say that he was proficient, he still had a rough idea of what was going on. However, he actually didn't understand what Ren Baqian was talking about.
The empress looked at Feng Hou, who was frowning and thinking hard, and the corners of her mouth curled up.
This was what she wanted to see.
Naturally, she was clear about the thoughts of everyone in the imperial court.
Her husband was chosen by herself, and it wasn't up to others to interrupt. But to be looked down upon like this, she was more or less unhappy.
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