Li Shimin originally wanted to mock him, but when he thought of the poem he wrote for Li Xiang at Qujiang Pool, his momentum immediately deflated.
This guy might actually be a poetry prodigy; my own writing isn't even as good as his at age three...
Although Li Shimin's momentum had waned, he still didn't hold back with his words.
"snort!"
"I'll give you a few more hours. If you can't memorize it by then, I'll beat your bottom until it's bruised!"
After uttering these harsh words, Li Shimin locked Li Jue in the Ganlu Palace and went outside to clear his head.
The reason he ran outside was because he was afraid that if he stayed inside, he would be unable to resist killing that bastard.
As soon as Li Shimin strolled to Xuanwu Gate, he saw carriages loaded with honeycomb briquettes coming. This made him very curious. He thought to himself, "Isn't it only been a short time since I issued the order to purchase them? How come they've been delivered so quickly?"
However, upon inquiry, it was discovered that the workshop for this product was hidden behind the Qin Prince's residence.
Li Shimin was even angrier when he saw this. This rebellious grandson deserved to be beaten. The whole capital was freezing cold, and he had hidden so many honeycomb briquettes!
Although Li Shimin knew that Li Jue couldn't be entirely blamed, he was deeply resentful and was just looking for a reason to beat the brat. Now that he had finally found a ready-made excuse, he wasn't about to let it go easily.
So Li Shimin strolled over to the coal briquette workshop.
Upon arriving at the workshop, Li Shimin found everything novel and fascinating.
There were at least several thousand people in the workshop, busy with various procedures.
Su Dingfang saw Li Shimin from afar, and upon seeing His Majesty arrive in person, he hurriedly approached.
"Your humble servant greets Your Majesty!"
How long has this workshop been open?
"Your Majesty, it has been three months..."
"oh?"
"Why has it taken so long? Why have you only now presented the coal briquettes to me?"
"Your Majesty, if it weren't for the freezing weather, who would risk their life to burn coal?"
"this……"
Upon hearing this, Li Shimin thought about it and realized it was true. If Chang'an hadn't been so desperately short of firewood and charcoal, he wouldn't have risked burning coal.
This shows that promoting this product is indeed not easy.
"Come for a walk with me!"
"promise!"
Su Dingfang naturally understood the meaning of "take a walk," which simply meant that His Majesty was interested in this item and wanted him to introduce it to him.
"Your Majesty, the coal piled up here is loose coal. To turn loose coal into honeycomb briquettes, it must first be washed to remove impurities before being sent to the next workshop."
The two talked as they walked into the mixing workshop.
Su Dingfang pointed to the workers who were vigorously mixing coal powder and loess.
"Your Majesty, here coal powder, clay, saltpeter, and other materials will be mixed in a certain proportion. Once this process is completed, it will be sent to the next workshop for die casting."
Upon hearing this, Li Shimin quickly walked to the last workshop, where he saw burly men with bare upper bodies, holding a strange-looking object and pounding it on the ground like rammed earth.
However, each pounding produces a honeycomb-shaped lump of coal, which has a certain aesthetic appeal.
How much of this can be produced in a day?
"Your Majesty, there is no shortage of raw materials. As long as we have enough manpower, we can produce as much as we want each day!"
"However, with these few thousand people, we can only make 300,000 pieces a day. It would be too difficult to make any more."
"Oh oh oh..."
After hearing this, Li Shimin considered it briefly. There were over a million people in Chang'an, plus three families of three, totaling 300,000 households. If each household burned one meal a day, it would be enough to ensure that the people could have a hot meal.
As for keeping warm...
Unless it's extremely cold, they shouldn't freeze to death.
"Continue to recruit people and make sure to increase production to ensure Chang'an's daily needs are met!"
"promise!"
"Your Majesty has already begun recruiting people, but this product is quite laborious to make, and most of the people of Chang'an are unwilling to do it. Only desperate disaster victims are willing to do it."
"However, now..."
Su Dingfang stopped there and dared not say any more, but Li Shimin took over and continued.
"Are you saying that there are too few disaster victims and too few people willing to work?"
Upon hearing this, Su Dingfang bowed respectfully.
"Your humble servant would not dare!"
"However, even among disaster victims, not many are willing to do this kind of work. Those with craftsmanship skills certainly wouldn't have to endure this kind of hardship."
Li Shimin pondered for a moment upon hearing this and then replied.
"This thing is just laborious, it doesn't require much skill, does it?"
"No!"
"The last step only requires strength to do!"
Li Shimin smiled slightly upon hearing this.
"In that case, things will be much easier. I can first send the local militia over to help, and have them rush to produce some supplies for Chang'an to help the people get through the winter!"
"Your Majesty is wise; you actually thought of the same thing as your eldest grandson."
Li Shimin was very surprised to hear this.
"oh?"
"Does Li Jue also have this idea?"
Su Dingfang smiled helplessly upon hearing this.
"If it weren't for my intervention, the garrison troops of Sanglin Garrison would probably have arrived by now..."
Li Shimin frowned slightly upon hearing this. This grandson was too audacious. Didn't he know that in the Tang Dynasty, mobilizing troops without an imperial edict was a capital offense?
"You did the right thing. Give more advice in the future!"
"promise!"
Just as the two were talking, Li Ke led Li Yuanying over, running over with him.
As soon as Li Yuanying saw his second brother, he knelt down with a thud, grabbed Li Er's leg, and started howling.
"Second Brother, I've finally met you! Waaah!"
Seeing Li Yuanying crying so miserably, and noticing how much thinner he had become, Li Shimin felt a pang of pity.
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