Zhu Yunwen nodded: "I know that. Coal, if used properly outdoors, can solve the problem of heating in winter and even cooking with firewood for the people of the world."
Seeing Zhu Yunwen say this, the Minister of Works dared not utter any objection and nodded, saying:
"After I return, I will set about handling this matter. There is a coal mine outside the city, and I will have people mine some of it."
Zhu Yunwen nodded and said, "Okay, bring some of the mined coal to me first."
The Minister of Works nodded, and Zhu Yunwen then let him leave.
In fact, Zhu Yunwen knew that the reason why coal was not being used on a large scale was because coal mining was very difficult and required a lot of manpower.
In addition, the mined coal contains many impurities.
After all, it is mined from the mountains and soil, so it will contain a lot of soil and some stones and minerals, and the quality will vary.
Therefore, some media may contain too many impurities, resulting in incomplete combustion or even difficulty in combustion.
Therefore, this thing was never fully utilized by the ancients.
But Zhu Yunwen was, after all, a time traveler, so he naturally had to find a way to solve this problem.
The best solution is to wash or process the mined coal.
As the name suggests, the process involves first washing the mined coal with water, then breaking up large pieces of coal, and finally washing it with water again.
Next, machines can be used to separate some undesirable impurities and other minerals from the coal.
That's obviously not possible now, but it's okay. Even without machines, we can manually pick out some of the bad impurities.
The media is divided into small pieces, and after rinsing, it's easy to tell at a glance which pieces are good and which are bad.
Discarding the bad stuff and collecting the good stuff can largely solve this problem.
This was arguably the best solution that could be devised in ancient times when industry was underdeveloped.
Although it's a bit troublesome, the cost isn't too high.
Coal can be sold, and as long as it's sold at a slightly lower price, it's acceptable as long as you don't lose money.
This would solve the problem of people needing fires for warmth.
After all, there's a lot of coal, unlike charcoal, which usually requires cutting down trees to burn.
Moreover, charcoal burns very quickly, while a piece of coal can usually last half a day. Even if the price of coal mined is the same as that of charcoal, it will still be a great deal for the people to use.
After all, the time it takes to use a piece of coal and a piece of charcoal is several times different.
With this plan in place, Zhu Yunwen waited for the Ministry of Works to deliver the mined coal to him.
Zhu Yunwen did not have to wait long; the very next day, the Minister of Works personally brought a large bag of coal to the Eastern Palace.
Zhu Yunwen looked at the coal on the ground and felt somewhat helpless.
When the coal is mined, it is covered with a lot of dust, impurities, and even some stones.
This stuff was mined from the mountains and underground, so it's unavoidable that it's mixed with soil and rocks.
So Zhu Yunwen had someone fetch water and find a hammer.
After smashing the large piece of coal, they rinsed it with water. The coal, which was originally covered in gray dust, changed color after being rinsed with water.
If it's a stone, it will have the color of a stone.
If it's coal, it will become very black.
Then Zhu Yunwen pointed to a pile of broken coal and impurities on the ground that had been washed away by the water and said:
"See? This way, coal and some impurities can be easily distinguished, right?"
The Minister of Works hurriedly nodded and said:
"Indeed, that's true. If we do it this way, we can select the good coal and discard the useless impurities and stones. We can remove the dross and keep the essence. Your Highness, this is truly ingenious. How come I didn't think of this method?"
Zhu Yunwen smiled, thinking to himself: There's a lot more you haven't thought of.
So he said to the Minister of Works:
"I've given you the method. Your Ministry of Works will be responsible for the mining of this coal. You will be in charge of large-scale mining in some of the surrounding coal-producing areas."
Use the method I teach you to remove impurities from the coal and distinguish between good and bad coal.
Actually, coal mining isn't that difficult. Just try to find some mines to mine.
It's simply a matter of using hammers and iron bars to extract the coal from the mountains and transport it to a designated location. After breaking it up with hammers, water is poured on it.
"Just select the usable coal and transport it to the market to sell. Are you careful enough to mine this coal in large quantities?"
The Minister of Works looked at Zhu Yunwen with admiration and said:
"Your Highness, I am confident!"
Zhu Yunwen nodded in satisfaction and said:
"If you have confidence, then do it."
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