Yang Haiyan didn't know whether boiling water could produce saltpeter, but she could try. Yang Haiyan had already thought about how to do it. For example, after the ice melted, did she boil the water incorrectly?
This wouldn't work. Soon, Yang Haiyan had another idea.
Qin Fang was very excited and in a very good mood: "Yan Yan, you go to bed first, I will write a letter to Lord Du and tell him how to make ice with saltpeter."
Yang Haiyan said: "Okay. By the way, my husband, why do you always write to Lord Du instead of submitting the memorial directly to the emperor?"
Qin Fang had his own ideas: "I have just entered the court and I am not from the imperial examination. I don't understand many of the court's rules, but I have been with Lord Du before, and I think Lord Du is a good official, so I gave him the letter. If he feels that there is something wrong in his heart, he should remind me. This is one. Second, I am a military general, and the memorials of military generals should go to the Ministry of War first, which is theoretically no problem."
Yang Haiyan had read the laws of Qiguo. Qiguo did not have a cabinet, So unlike many dynasties, many dynasties had inner cabinets, so the officials' memorials would first go to the inner cabinet, and then the inner cabinet would select and present them to the emperor. In this case, the inner cabinet read the memorials first. Sometimes, someone in the inner cabinet disagreed with the official who wrote the memorial, and then the memorial might be suppressed.
Of course, the official's memorials would be copied and registered before they were submitted.
There is another way, that is, the official privately submits the memorial to the emperor, which will trouble the people in the palace.
However, although some dynasties did not have inner cabinets, there was another way to submit memorials. That is, the court had a special department for receiving memorials, called Tongzhengsi, and then the Tongzhengsi sent them to the palace, handed them over to the officials in charge of the palace gate, and then presented them to the emperor's desk.
In Qi State, memorials from civil officials and military generals were separated. Memorials from civil officials were directly handed over to the Tongzhengsi, then handed over to the palace by the Tongzhengsi, and then handed over to the emperor by the palace gatekeepers. Memorials from military generals would generally go to the Ministry of War first. Of course, if military generals did not want to hand in their memorials to the Ministry of War, they could hand them directly to the Tongzhengsi. But
in this way, the Ministry of War would sometimes be embarrassed. For example, there were some situations that the emperor knew about, but the Ministry of War did not. When the emperor asked questions during the morning court, the officials of the Ministry of War were moved. It is also possible that the officials of the Ministry of War would resent the military generals because of this. This is not good for military generals.
Moreover, if the Ministry of War knew about some situations related to the Ministry of War first, it would also be beneficial for the Ministry of War to make adjustments.
However, Qin Fang gave the memorial to Du Ke first, not because of these, but because he wanted to find a backer and cling to someone. He knew that he was insignificant and did not understand some things, so he hoped that Du Ke would give him some advice. Du Ke was the Minister of War. Even if Qin Fang did not understand the affairs of the court, he knew that not everyone could be the Minister of War, especially when the new emperor ascended the throne, he wanted to hold the military power the most, so the Minister of War must be his man.
Qin Fang would not tell Yang Haiyan about some of his dark thoughts. He did not want his wife to know some of his calculating thoughts. When he had nothing, when he was down and out, when he could not read, she was always there with him. He did not care that he was imperfect and had many shortcomings in front of her. However, he just did not want her to know his conspiracies.
Qin Fang wrote the memorial overnight, and sent someone to deliver it to the capital at dawn the next day.
So much so that two and a half days later, Lord Du received Qin Fang's second letter.
Du Ke was in the study at this moment, looking at the emperor face to face. Du Ke had just walked out of here half an hour ago, and the monarch and his ministers had discussed the rewards for Qin Fang and Yang Haiyan. Unexpectedly, half an hour later, Qin Fang sent another achievement, making ice with saltpeter. Qin Fang dared to say this, so saltpeter must be able to make ice.
The emperor: "Sulfur mines, saltpeter mines, military camps and fields, saltpeter making ice, all these things happened in the second year of my accession to the throne. Du Ke, tell me, Qin Fang is really my lucky star." Things that benefit the country and the people happened when he ascended the throne. No emperor would not like such a good thing.
Du Ke was startled, and remembered what his father had said today. His father said that Qin Fang was a good person, and he was lucky.
And the emperor liked people with good luck the most. Especially people like Qin Fang, who was born in a poor family, had no backing, and no family. No matter how lucky he was, no matter how high he was promoted, he was not afraid that he would do something bad.
The emperor continued, "In March, it rained for half a month, the dam collapsed, and floods were rampant. Everyone said that I was not legitimately elected to the throne. Now, Qin Fang has suppressed bandits and sent me silver. Tell me, if I had invented gunpowder when I ascended the throne, and solved the food problem for millions of soldiers in the barracks, and solved the problem of ice that even the noble families were reluctant to use, who would have said that my throne was not legitimate and was punished by God?"
Du Ke lowered his head and dared not speak.
The emperor laughed, "Qin Fang is good, and his wife is not bad either. You are right. This is a marriage arranged by me. I am their matchmaker."
Du Ke: If you say so, then it is.
Emperor: "Come here, ask the Imperial Hospital to bring some saltpeter. Let's try to make ice with saltpeter according to Qin Fang's method. If it really succeeds, the price of ice will drop, and ordinary people may be able to afford it. In my lifetime, I can see peace and prosperity in the country and the people living and working in peace and contentment. That would be really..."
Du Ke: "Your Majesty is wise and intelligent, it will definitely work."
The emperor has heard too much of such flattery: "Unfortunately, no matter how big the saltpeter mine is, it is limited. If the saltpeter mine is mined out, there will be no saltpeter to make ice, and ice will still be..." Du
Ke said: "Maybe there is more than one saltpeter mine in the Beast Mountain that Qin Fang mentioned."
Emperor: "Even if there are two or three, it is still limited."
After a while, the imperial physician came with saltpeter. According to the emperor's wealth, he brought enough saltpeter. Because saltpeter is slightly poisonous, the imperial physician came in person.
When the imperial physician arrived, there was already a large basin and a small basin in the study. Both basins were filled with water, and the small basin was placed inside the large basin.
The emperor said, "Put the saltpeter in the large basin, and don't let it touch the small basin."
The eunuch said, "Yes."
The imperial physician said, "Your Majesty, please forgive me for being so bold. Saltpeter is poisonous. You must not abuse it without the doctor's order. Do you want to?"
The emperor usually listened to the imperial physician, as it was related to his health. But today, he wanted to show off in front of the imperial physician, "This saltpeter has other uses that you don't know about. Just watch... Put more saltpeter in the large basin."
The eunuch said, "Yes."
Since the emperor said so, the imperial physician naturally watched. However, saltpeter absorbs heat and cools down very quickly, and because there is enough saltpeter, the water in the basin starts to steam after half an hour. But it is just steaming, and it is far from freezing.
The imperial physician's eyes lit up: "Your Majesty, what is this?" The imperial physician was shocked. As an imperial physician, he dare not say that he is well-read, but he has read most of the books related to medicine, but he never knew that saltpeter has such an effect.
The emperor laughed again when he saw this. His laughter showed that he was in a very good mood today: "My dear Qiu, it is said that saltpeter is poisonous. If you put it in water to make ice, the ice made is also poisonous. But if you make ice in a small basin with water, the ice is non-toxic and edible. Do you think so?"
Doctor Qiu: "I need to check it." It is very simple to check whether the ice made in a small basin is poisonous or edible. As long as the water that is already emitting cold air is non-toxic, then it will naturally be non-toxic when it becomes ice.
Soon, Doctor Qiu came to the conclusion: "Your Majesty, as you said just now, ice made by water is indeed non-toxic, but the water in this large basin is poisonous, because more saltpeter is added, which speeds up the cooling rate, so the toxicity is stronger than the toxicity of saltpeter itself."
The emperor: "In other words, if the Ministry of Industry can design a good ice-making container, saltpeter can be used to make safe and edible ice."
Doctor Qiu: "Yes."
The emperor sighed: "It's a pity, the amount of saltpeter is limited, and the ice that can be made is also limited."
Doctor Qiu thought: "That may not be the case. Maybe saltpeter can be reused, but it has not been verified yet, so I am not sure."
The emperor asked excitedly: "What do you think?"
Doctor Qiu said: "Cook. If saltpeter is dissolved in water, boiling water may produce saltpeter. "
Du Ke: "What do you mean?"
Doctor Qiu thought for a moment, took out a white handkerchief, and then took out a bottle of medicine, poured the medicine on the handkerchief, and then explained: "Your Majesty and Lord Du, have you ever heard of boiling medicine? This medicine is poured on the handkerchief. If the handkerchief is dry, you can put the handkerchief in a pot with water and boil the medicine on the handkerchief. This saltpeter is dissolved in water, and saltpeter should also be boiled out. If saltpeter dissolved in water can really be boiled out, then saltpeter can be used repeatedly to make ice. "
Emperor: "Then ice will be worthless, and ordinary people can also afford ice." Although the ice-making family has no profit, in the heart of the emperor, ordinary people are naturally more important.
If Yang Haiyan was here at this time, she would definitely be excited to hear what Doctor Qiu said. The wisdom of the ancients is truly incredible.
The emperor said again: "In this case, the matter of boiling saltpeter will be handed over to you. Remember, this matter must not be spread."
Doctor Qiu: "I obey your order."
The emperor nodded: "You can go out now." He ordered the eunuch again, "Help Doctor Qiu move these things to the Imperial Hospital."
The doctor: "Yes."
Doctor Qiu: "Thank you, Your Majesty."
Du Ke came in the afternoon. It was past dinner time and it was dark, so after verifying the saltpeter ice making matter, he said: "Your Majesty, it's getting late, and I should take my leave."
The emperor: "No hurry, you can stay in the palace and have dinner with me."
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