Chapter 321 I will plead guilty myself.
In this era, wealthy people used charcoal for heating in winter.
Charcoal burns for a long time, is smokeless and odorless, and does not produce any toxic gases, making it the preferred choice for the wealthy.
From the day it was discovered, coal has been both loved and hated by users. They love it because of its powerful heat energy, but hate it because poisoning is unavoidable whenever it is used.
Cheng Wanwan also remembered reading a story, which was the autobiography of the last emperor Puyi. He said that he had also suffered from coal poisoning when he lived in the Forbidden City as a child.
Even emperors, who had servants and dedicated staff to ventilation, could still be poisoned, which speaks volumes about the uncontrollability of this thing.
Later, with the invention of honeycomb briquettes, coal was finally able to be promoted to every corner of the country.
It's not that honeycomb briquettes are non-toxic, but the chance of poisoning is dozens or even hundreds of times lower. As long as they are not burned in an absolutely sealed environment, there won't be any major problems.
"Grandma, is this really going to work?" The village head was a little uneasy. "Master Yu and Master He both said that burning this thing will kill people. I'm mainly worried about..."
Cheng Wanwan said, "We'll know once we make it and try it out. Let's make the tools first."
Fortunately, there was a blacksmith in the village who repaired farm tools for the village during the off-season every year, which was a way of making a living. However, his blacksmithing and forging skills were only at a basic level.
He looked at the drawings Cheng Wanwan gave him and hesitated, saying, "Round things are not easy to work with, and I don't know how to do it either..."
Honeycomb briquettes are round, aren't they? They're round in appearance and have round holes. They seem quite simple, but making the molds for them is actually quite complicated.
Cheng Wanwan had no choice but to change the blueprints. Whether they were round or square, as long as they had holes, it would be fine. The main purpose was for ventilation so that the coal could burn completely.
It has a square shape with twelve square holes in the middle, and is made of scrap iron to make a honeycomb briquette machine.
Although Zhao the blacksmith's skills were lacking, his efficiency was outstanding. In half a day, he made something strange. Although he made it himself, he didn't even know what it was for.
The village head handed the item to Cheng Wanwan. She tried it out, and although it was a little clunky, it wasn't a big problem; she would get used to it.
By this time, Zhao Anjiang and seven or eight other men had carried a lot of coal down the mountain.
These coal blocks were piled up in Cheng Wanwan's yard, violently crushed into powder, mixed with an appropriate amount of yellow soil, and then all the coal ash was piled into the shape of a small hill. A large pit was dug at the top, and an appropriate amount of water was added to the pit. Then the pit was filled with coal ash.
After about fifteen minutes, when the water and coal ash have fully mixed, stir them thoroughly with a tool.
However, this was Cheng Wanwan's first time making it, and she didn't know her limits. She added too much water, so she added some coal ash and continued stirring.
When the coal ash is loose when picked up but can be clumped together when squeezed, it's ready.
Then, use a honeycomb briquette machine to press it onto the coal ash pile, pressing it firmly repeatedly, and then stomp on it with your foot to complete a honeycomb briquette.
The square honeycomb briquettes with square holes were such an unusual shape that Cheng Wanwan had never seen before.
She said, "Let's make some first, then I'll dry them by the stove and test the results."
Honeycomb briquettes were formed one by one and placed in the yard. The yard gate was closed, and the villagers had no idea what was going on inside.
However, they knew very well that the village head had had many black stones carried down from the mountain.
"The wildfire last night was started by these kinds of rocks."
"How can a stone catch fire? That's so strange."
"If we can use it as firewood, then we can make a fire to keep warm."
"Collecting stones is much easier than chopping wood."
Hearing the discussions outside, the village head coughed. He knew this matter couldn't be kept secret, and he didn't intend to hide it anymore. He walked out with his hands behind his back and closed the courtyard gate behind him.
"I'm sure everyone is interested in the black stones on the mountain, so I'll just say it directly. This thing is called black gold stone. You can tell from the name that it's a precious thing, right?" The village head looked at everyone and said in a dignified voice, "No matter who finds black gold stone anywhere, even under their own bed, it belongs to the imperial court. No one is allowed to take it for private purposes."
Zhang Wulai was about to retort.
The village head glared at him coldly and said, "The reason I took it is because our village is out of firewood. If the heavy snow continues, we will run out of firewood. In this cold weather, we will freeze to death if we don't burn firewood. For everyone's lives, I, an old man, have no choice but to disobey the imperial decree and take the black gold stone. Once the mountain road is open, I will personally apologize to the county magistrate."
Old Mrs. Zhao asked with some fear, "Will I be beheaded for using government property without permission?"
“Not necessarily.” The village head’s voice softened. “The county magistrate isn’t such an inhumane official. As long as our reasons are sufficient, there won’t be any major issues. I’ll say it again: no one is allowed to go up the mountain to collect black gold stone without permission… Even if someone shamelessly steals black gold stone, they are not allowed to burn it at home. This stuff has a strong odor and is poisonous when burned; one wrong move and you’ll die… Aunt Dashan and I will make the black gold stone into a different shape so that it won’t produce poisonous fumes when burned. Each household can receive ten honeycomb briquettes a day…”
Zhang the Scoundrel shouted, "Only ten coins? That's too little! They'll burn up in half a day. How are we supposed to keep warm?"
“A honeycomb briquette can burn for about half an hour. If you block the stove and leave a small vent, two briquettes can burn all night.” The village head stroked his beard. “When you use them, you’ll know how much this thing can burn.”
The crowd was skeptical.
The next day, thousands of honeycomb briquettes were finally made.
Each household would take the coal home and dry it themselves. Once it was completely dry, it could be used directly. Ten pieces of coal a day were more than enough.
When it's not in use, people can't imagine how good it is.
But after using it once, everyone in the village fell in love with these square honeycomb briquettes.
"No wonder this thing can only be used by the imperial court, it's too useful."
"Put a piece of coal in, and the water in the pot will boil in the blink of an eye. It's much easier than using firewood."
“I specially made a mud stove, put three pieces of coal in it, and it can burn all day long, and it won’t go out at night.”
"..."
With coal, there was fire, and no matter how heavy the snow was, the villagers were no longer so panicked.
However, on the night of the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, two figures sneaked up to the low hill behind the village.
"This thing is valuable. Take more and hide it away. We'll take it to the city to sell later. Our family is going to be rich."
"What if someone finds out?"
“I say, how can you be so stupid?” Zhang Wulai said coldly. “The hill is so big, we can take some home and no one will know. Even if they do know, they won’t know it was us. We can just secretly transport it to Baiyun Town next door to sell it, and I guarantee no one will find out.”
Mrs. Zhang nodded: "You're quite the strategist."
The two men collected two large baskets full of black coal on the hillside and, under the cover of night, stealthily returned to their home.
Neither of them were particularly diligent. They didn't have a dedicated coal stove; they still used the large earthen stove for cooking. When they got home, the fire in the stove had gone out, and the house was chilly. At this rate, ten yuan a day wouldn't be enough for them, so they had to use the raw coal they had just brought back.
Granny Zhang said proudly, "I specially dug dry coal from the ground. It can burn without being dried. Let's give it a try."
She took out a tinderbox, lit a clump of dry grass, and then threw the raw coal from her basket into the stove. The fire blazed up instantly.
She rubbed her hands together: "It's too cold outside. Let's boil some water to warm ourselves up."
The fire in the stove grew bigger and bigger, and a strange smell began to spread throughout the house...
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