52 Chapter 52
◎Sudden thoughts.◎
Ying Zheng had already heard the reply from the eunuch who had returned earlier. When he saw Fusu, he waved and said, "Come here, let me have a look."
Fusu walked up to his father in confusion and asked, "Father..."
Ying Zheng touched Fusu's face, then touched Fusu's hand. Then, facing Fusu's puzzled look, he asked, "Is it cold with so much ice in the room?"
"Hmm..." Fusu blinked rapidly and said quickly, "Father, the previous kings taught me a method of making ice. From now on, we will never lack ice again!"
"Yes, write it down, and I'll have it done." Ying Zheng nodded and asked again, "Is it cold?"
Fusu had no choice but to answer honestly, "Wear something thicker, and you won't be cold."
"I'm not stupid," Ying Zheng said sarcastically, "but I don't know who was sick last year. I said there was someone who only knew they were wrong but never changed. Now it seems that they were right."
Thinking of the cold war caused by the illness last year, Fusu suddenly felt guilty. He quickly grabbed his father's arm and explained, "Father, I'm very careful and I'm not sick."
Ying Zheng snorted, "When you're sick, how are you going to tell me?"
Fusu was at his wit's end and said, "Father, I won't use so much ice anymore."
Ying Zheng, however, refused to accept the suggestion and simply said, "Just use it. Didn't I already allow you to use ice as you please?"
Ice is a rare commodity nowadays. The ice in the ice cellar must be distributed according to the king's order and not everyone can use it at will.
At the beginning of summer, Fusu asked his father for more ice, and Ying Zheng agreed with a simple gesture.
Of course, at that time, Ying Zheng had no idea how his eldest son planned to use ice.
"Father..." Fusu hugged his father's arm, "How about I move in with you so you can see if I've corrected my mistakes this time."
"No thanks, I'm afraid of the cold." Ying Zheng tried to pull his arm away, but someone grabbed his sleeve and he couldn't pull it out for a while.
Fusu chuckled and said, "I'm afraid of the cold, Father. I'm especially afraid of the cold. I want to come here to warm up. Please allow me to do so."
Ying Zheng pushed his face away and said ruthlessly, "No."
Fusu came closer again, tugged at his father's sleeve and said, "Father, don't allow this. Fusu is about to cry. I'm going to cry until the roof of your house collapses. Woo…"
Ying Zheng: “…”
Ying Zheng tapped his eldest son's forehead and said with a chuckle, "Look at you, do you still act like an elder brother? I should ask your brothers to laugh at you."
Fusu tilted his head and smiled, "In front of my father, I am just a child like them. Besides, I am not much older than them. Doesn't my father only care about the younger ones and not the older ones?"
Ying Zheng pinched his cheek and said with a smile, "Who do I love more? Don't you have any idea?"
Fusu smiled and moved closer to his father: "Father loves Fusu the most!"
Ying Zheng pretended to be disgusted and pushed him away: "Stay away from me, you are afraid of the cold, but I am afraid of the heat."
Fusu eagerly took the fan beside him and waved it, puffing and puffing: "I'll fan my father!"
Ying Zheng took a closer look and saw that after all this commotion, beads of sweat had formed on Fusu's forehead. He raised his hand, took the fan, and threw it to the palace attendant, saying, "Sit quietly for a while and let the sweat dry off."
"Oh." Fusu agreed obediently, "Father, is there something you want to ask me?"
Ying Zheng took the memorial and opened it: "The kitchen has prepared a cold dish for you to try."
Since the beginning of summer, Fusu has provided the chefs with many recipes for cold dishes. The chefs have also studied them carefully and researched many new cold dishes so that the king can enjoy them.
"Thank you, Father!" Fusu said with a smile, "Father, I also have something that I just thought of."
"You say." Ying Zheng said.
Fusu then told him about his plan to use glass instead of silk to cover the windows: "Glass is transparent, and the room will no longer be dark."
Ying Zheng put down his pen and thought for a moment before saying, "That's right. Tell someone to give it a try."
"Yes!" Fusu nodded with his eyes curved. "When it's done, let's replace the glass here first. You read memorials all day long, so a brighter room would be better for your eyes."
Ying Zheng took the memorial with one hand and rubbed Fusu's head with the other.
…
The glass is ready, but to install it on the door, craftsmen need to come and modify the door frame first.
Fusu didn't need to do this, as there were people to do it. He was currently studying how to make ice from saltpeter because of a momentary impulse.
The first step in making ice from saltpeter is to obtain saltpeter. After Fusu took out his mobile phone and searched for it, he decided to try both natural and artificial methods.
Fusu thought about it and decided to wait for Li You and others to come back and do it together with them.
——He definitely didn’t mean to be lazy just because he was afraid of the heat. Fusu silently defended himself in his heart.
After writing down all the methods and techniques, Fusu ordered people to prepare the equipment first. It happened that they already had glass, so he drew a pattern and ordered people to make some goggles as a backup.
If it can be made into goggles, can it also be made into a telescope? An idea suddenly flashed through Fusu’s mind.
This was obviously more important than the glass windows and ice, so Fusu immediately got up to check.
"Convex lens, concave lens..." Fusu muttered.
In this era, even the simplest and most common telescope can achieve unexpected results on the battlefield.
The imagination was beautiful, but soon Fusu encountered a dilemma. There was a problem in the production of concave lenses and convex lenses.
After failing again, he sighed.
Fusu stared into the distance in a trance: "I really need the Mo family."
Pinhole imaging was first invented by the Mohists. If we let them do this scientific work, we will definitely get twice the result with half the effort. The question is, where are the Mohists?
Fusu held his chin and thought for a while. If it really didn't work, he would ask his father to issue an order to seek talents!
Fusu ordered the craftsmen to try again, while he returned to the palace to study it further.
As soon as I entered the palace, I saw Li You and others coming back.
Fusu had been tortured by the telescope for the past two days and had forgotten about making ice. He only remembered it when he saw the four of them.
Seeing Fusu, Li You and the others hurried over to greet him. After exchanging greetings, Li You took out a box of snacks from his luggage and gave it to Fusu: "My mother made some new snacks. Please have some, young master."
Every time they returned home, Fusu would always ask them to bring something back, such as snacks, new dishes, glass and porcelain utensils, paper, and books. He never let them go back empty-handed.
Things are one thing, but this more represents the eldest son's attitude, letting each family know that their children are valued.
The fathers in the family (except Changping Jun's family) saw the promising future of the next generation, and not only became more loyal, but also more motivated when doing things.
Mothers are more careful and gentle. In their view, this means that their children will not suffer any grievances in the palace.
The mothers would listen to their children talk about daily trivialities. They knew that the good things their children received came from the eldest prince, and they were all very grateful to Fusu.
The mothers were the ones who packed their children's luggage, so whenever his companions came back, Fusu would receive many thank-you gifts from the mothers.
Among them, the gift from Mi Qing's mother was the most generous. Changping Jun could no longer provide support for Mi Qing in the court. Mi Qing's future hopes all depended on Fusu. As a mother, there were too few things she could do to help. Apart from looking forward to her mother's family, she could only do these little things.
Whether it was a matter of reciprocity or returning a favor, Fusu never refused these gifts. He ordered them to be accepted and then asked his attendants, "Is the tea cold?"
Without waiting for the monks to reply, Meng Hua said with a smile, "Master, we have already had some water."
"Okay." Fusu smiled, "I need to drink some water too. I'm dying of thirst."
Meng Huaqi asked, "Young Master, what have you been busy with? You didn't even have time to drink a sip of water."
Fusu entered the house and drank two glasses of water before saying, "I've encountered a difficult problem. Let me think about how to solve it. Now, I have something to ask you. Are you willing to do it?"
As soon as these words came out, Mi Qing immediately said, "Master, please give your orders!"
Fusu nodded at him and looked at the other three people, but naturally did not get a negative response.
Li You asked, "Master, what do you want us to do?"
Fusu didn't want to talk much at the moment, so he ordered someone to bring the method of making ice with saltpeter that he had copied for the four of them to see.
The four people exclaimed in amazement and said with great determination that they would do it now.
Fusu was so shocked by the telescope that he didn't want to move a finger. He just said, "Then you go first. I... I'll wait for next time."
The attraction of new things was great, so the four of them immediately took the saltpeter soil according to the instructions and soaked it in water according to the proportion. This step took twelve hours.
Then they tried to artificially produce saltpeter. When they came back after finishing their work, Fusu had already ordered people to prepare the meal.
The four of them had already showered and changed into new clothes. When Meng Hua saw the delicious food, he suddenly retched, then he covered his nose and said, "I can't eat anymore."
The steps for artificially making saltpeter soil are not complicated, and the raw materials are also simple, but they are not very friendly to humans. They are urine, feces and wood ash. In addition, urine needs to be regularly added during the fermentation process to maintain humidity.
Fusu knew this very well. After hearing what Meng Hua said, he thought about it and suddenly found it difficult to pick up his chopsticks.
Fusu thought for a moment and consoled them: "Change your thinking. Think of it this way. After this trial, if you are sure you can't endure it, then for the remaining six to eight months, you don't have to go there in person. I will order the eunuchs to do it."
Li You, Wang Li and Meng Hua all nodded repeatedly, agreeing with Fusu's words.
Meng Hua suddenly had an idea and asked, "Young Master, six to eight months? That would be winter then!"
Why make ice in winter?
Fusu smiled and said, "Yes, it's just right to wait until next summer."
Meng Hua and others: "..."
Mi Qing gritted his teeth and said to Fusu, "My Lord, although this process is not complicated, it does require recording some data and someone to monitor it. Why don't you let me do it?"
As soon as he finished speaking, he received the admiring gazes of three people, among whom Li You's eyes were more complicated.
Fusu looked at him for a moment, then nodded and said, "Okay."
【Author’s words】
Making ice with saltpeter and artificially making saltpeter soil both come from online searches.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
