The coal stove and kettle were also made. Zhao Huan took out a fire starter and lit the charcoal first. When the fire became stronger, he put the coal balls in to ignite it.
The coal stove usually only needs to hold four coal balls, and only needs to be filled with five balls at night to keep the fire burning all night.
A eunuch filled the stove with water, and Zhao Huan placed two burning coal balls at the bottom of the stove, and then placed two dry coal balls on top.
I opened the vents below, and after about an incense stick's worth of time, the flames had spread to the top coals. I placed the kettle on top and started the timer. After about half an hour, the kettle whistled loudly, indicating the water was indeed boiling.
The blacksmith, guards, palace maids and eunuchs who were watching were all stunned. This thing was truly magical. With a coal stove in the future, the family would no longer have to light a fire to cook every day.
After some experiments, two honeycomb coal balls can burn for an hour in a ventilated environment, which is enough for a family to cook and boil two pots of water. If the valve is closed and the ventilation is not good, the two coal balls can last for eight or nine hours.
"From now on, the three of you will be responsible for crafting tools related to honeycomb briquettes. You can ignore any other arrangements made by the Ministry of Industry. Your salaries will be tripled from their current levels."
"In a few days, I will arrange for people to purchase a large number of tools. You should be prepared."
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
Zhao Huan looked at the excited crowd and said loudly, "Let us fight for a better Songtian."
The honeycomb coal issue came to an end, and Zhao Huan immediately summoned Lu Bing and told him to hand over the business plan he had written last night to Yuan Zonggao intact.
It is summer now, and the demand for honeycomb coal for heating is not high. We can take this opportunity to produce a large batch of goods to meet the strong demand in winter.
After all, this is still an era that relies purely on manual labor. Even if two groups of people are arranged to work day and night, it would be good if 100,000 pieces of honeycomb coal can be produced a day.
According to historical records, the population of Beijing during the Jiajing period was close to one million. Even if only 10% of the population used honeycomb coal, the daily demand would be 500,000 pieces, far from sufficient to meet production capacity.
We will gradually expand the scale when the time comes. There should be a lot of people free time in winter.
In the afternoon, it is time for court lectures, when famous academicians come to give lessons to His Majesty the Emperor. The content covers classics, history, agriculture, horse administration, state governance, local customs and practices, etc. It mainly depends on what the academician who gives the lecture wants to talk about.
Today we will talk about a book encouraging agriculture written by a Hanlin scholar during the Hongzhi period and copied in Huaibei. It shows the court's painstaking efforts to encourage and develop agriculture, and is a rare masterpiece.
Grand Secretary Liu Fang recited: "To promote the virtuous and teach the incompetent is to encourage. This means that if a ruler can promote and employ virtuous people, place them in positions of honor, and teach the incompetent so that they can become competent, then the people will be encouraged to do good. Agriculture is the foundation of all industries. When agriculture flourishes, all industries flourish. When agriculture declines, the world of prosperity and chaos will not last long..."
Everyone nodded repeatedly, saying that the article was very elegant and a rare masterpiece.
Zhao Huan was completely confused. What did this mean? Was this how the book on encouraging agriculture encouraged farmers?
After all, I graduated from a university and have read some books. If I can't understand what is being said, how can the people understand?
Is encouraging agriculture just about the people working while local officials chant scriptures? The whole text is about agriculture being the foundation, starting with Yao, Shun, Yu, and Tang, without mentioning seeds, pests, irrigation, or farm tools. What's the point of this? I'm afraid the people will laugh at me behind my back.
Encourage the people to farm?
Is there any need for persuasion? Even farming does not guarantee full food. In order to survive, there are no lazy and idle people in the Song Dynasty.
Liu Fang noticed that His Majesty was thinking seriously and was delighted. "Your Majesty must have listened to me!"
Then he straightened his clothes, straightened his back, looked at Zhao Huan gracefully, and said, "What do you think, Your Majesty?"
Zhao Huan, who was interrupted, looked at Liu Fang with a smug look on his face and muttered to himself, "What's the point of being so proud? It's all flowery nonsense. It's useless."
His face instantly changed to an expression of great achievement, and he said, "This article is truly ingenious."
After saying that, Zhao Huan was stunned for a moment. He must have been infected by someone.
The next moment, Zhao Huan spoke again, "This article is so brilliant, it needs to be shared with more people! I have an imperial farm outside the palace. Why don't we go there and let the people there listen to this book about encouraging farmers? They will definitely be inspired."
"This... it's not good to leave the palace casually!" Liu Fang stammered. Why did he suddenly have to leave the palace to read articles to the people in the countryside during a court lecture?
To ascend to the emperor's hall in the morning and become a farmer in the evening, what kind of thing is this?
Everyone also opposed it.
"Your Majesty, absolutely not! Leaving the palace will only waste people's time and money!"
"Your Majesty, even if this article is exquisite, you can just have it copied and circulated everywhere. Why does Your Majesty need to go there in person?"
"Your Majesty, there are so many famous works handed down from generation to generation, we cannot let them all leave the palace."
"You can leave the palace in casual clothes. The imperial farm is just outside the city. You can go there and back in an hour. Why would you waste your time and money?"
"Just now, you all kept saying that agriculture is the foundation of the country. Let me see if the foundation of the country is not there. Without knowing the foundation, how can the country maintain long-term stability and prosperity?"
"Your Majesty is the Supreme Ruler, and your authority is bestowed by Heaven. How can you travel in casual clothing? Where is your dignity? If the people see you as just an ordinary person, it will easily breed rebellion and will be detrimental to the stability of your country."
Zhao Huan sternly interrupted him, "Think of Emperor Taizu of the Great Song Dynasty, Emperor Yongle, and Emperor Xuanzong. Each of them came from the people and returned to the people. Why should I maintain my dignity and be detached from the people? It is the imperial power that is supreme, not me."
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