Chapter 493: It’s Better to Do It Now
"Master Yan, please prepare some mung bean soup for the craftsmen every day! In such high temperatures, they must drink plenty of water, otherwise they will easily suffer from heatstroke and faint."
Su Ying finally breathed in fresh air, but her face was sticky with sweat, making her feel very uncomfortable.
"Don't worry, Master Su, we have water prepared every day." Yan Lide replied.
"Lord Yan, if funds permit, prepare mung bean soup in the summer!" Su Ying sighed and took a step back.
It’s a little better in winter, but the high temperature in the hot summer can really kill people!
"Okay, I'll listen to Lord Su!" Yan Lide said good-temperedly, not feeling offended.
"Oh, by the way, add a little salt to your drinking water!" Su Ying added.
"Okay, okay!" Yan Lide knew there must be a reason. The other person was kind-hearted, so he would just remember it.
When the Crown Prince, the Fourth Prince and others came out, the eunuchs hurriedly put on thick cotton clothes and fox fur coats.
"Let's go to the office and have some tea!" Yan Lide invited.
Not to mention the Crown Prince and the Fourth Prince, even he himself was extremely thirsty.
"Ah! It's so comfortable!" Li Tai leaned back in the chair and sighed comfortably.
After sweating a lot, I drank a cup of hot tea in one gulp to moisten my throat which was about to smoke.
The tea is brewed directly using the Lingnan method. The slightly bitter tea becomes sweet and thirst-quenching, and is more refreshing and thirst-quenching than the tea powder boiled with onions, ginger and garlic.
"Master Su, you just said that the craftsmen would suffer from heatstroke. What do you mean? How can they suffer from heatstroke in winter?" Li Tai had some free time at this moment and asked his puzzled question.
"Your Highness, heat stroke refers to an illness caused by exposure to high temperatures, which causes a rise in body temperature.
This is not unique to the scorching summer. Craftsmen working in high-temperature environments, such as smelting and kiln firing, experience excessive water loss in enclosed spaces without air circulation, which can also lead to heatstroke in winter.
When the cold wind blew outside, Su Ying's inner clothes became wet and stuck to her body. She probably couldn't avoid catching a cold when she went back.
He reminded, "Master Yan, are there any clean handkerchiefs here? Find a few for the princes to cover their backs. Be careful not to catch a cold!"
"Yes, yes! Wait!" Yan Lide called to the clerk outside the door, "Go and get some fine gauze handkerchiefs!"
The handkerchiefs were brought in, and the eunuchs put them through the collars of the crown prince, the fourth prince, and the Prince of Lu and tucked them into their backs.
"Do it for me too!" Du He said to the eunuch.
Su Ying could only find an empty room, put her hands behind her back, and when she opened her collar, she could feel a burst of heat coming out.
A knowledgeable clerk brought hot water, and everyone wiped the sweat off their faces and sat down again, finally feeling truly relaxed.
"Why did Lord Su emphasize adding a little salt to the craftsmen's drinking water?" Li Tai asked the second question.
"When people perspire profusely, they remove salt from their bodies! In the summer, you'll often see white spots of sweat on the backs of farmers and other laborers. That's salt frost."
Excessive salt loss can cause imbalances in the body, leading to fainting and convulsions!" Su Ying explained.
"Oh, no wonder, people who suffer from heatstroke not only faint and vomit, but also have convulsions. So that's why!" Yan Lide was convinced.
Craftsmen often fainted, vomited, and had convulsions while working in winter. It turned out that they were suffering from heatstroke, loss of water and salt, and too much!
"Gao Ming, remember to take us with you next time you go out. Today really opened my eyes!" Du He shouted.
It's much more interesting to go out than to sit in Hongwenguan all day.
Those old pedants just preach, and all they say is useless bullshit.
This Mr. Su is really interesting. What he talked about, such as activated carbon and smelting, is really fresh.
It would be nice to get a job as the Chief of Works in the future.
"Well! Lord Su's talent in saving the world is different from that of several great scholars in the Hongwenguan. It is all practical skills." Li Chengqian agreed deeply.
The great Confucian scholars are all about self-cultivation, state governance, and the art of ruling the country. They are major policies and frameworks.
Mr. Su's advanced technology and creativity are practical and down-to-earth, and they are the concrete implementation and filling of major policies.
The two complement each other and are indispensable.
"Sir Yan, your prison has a wide range of subjects and is full of talented people. Could you please allocate some people to write books?" Su Ying suggested.
"Uh, Lord Su, technology is a secret that must not be disclosed to outsiders..." Yan Lide was embarrassed.
“Master Yan has misunderstood. The Imperial College will soon add two new colleges: the College of Agriculture and the College of Engineering.
Among them, the School of Engineering involves many industries such as construction, roads, bridges, water conservancy, shipbuilding, and metallurgy.
The scope of the Jiangzuojian is vast and complex, and the craftsmen all have inherited their skills from their ancestors. They can be compiled and edited, and except for those that are not suitable for public disclosure, the techniques that have been circulated will be sorted out and revised for use as teaching materials in engineering schools."
Crown Prince Li Chengqian explained for Su Ying.
"Where will the students from the Engineering College be sent after graduation?" Yan Lide looked at the prince with burning eyes.
"The Chief of Construction has many skilled craftsmen, but lacks literate ones! If students from the Engineering College could be assigned to the Chief of Construction, it would be perfect!"
"Isn't this a perfect match? The original intention of establishing an engineering college is to train professional and technical talents. Students come from all walks of life, not just ordinary people or farmers."
Li Chengqian smiled and said, Su Ying was right.
Once this college is established, it will provide a steady stream of professional talent to all walks of life in the Tang Dynasty, and also provide practitioners in all walks of life with the opportunity to change jobs.
Professional talents and students taking imperial examinations constitute the powerful talent structure of the Tang Dynasty, with supporting talents from the major policy framework to implementation.
"I will start arranging it right away!" Yan Lide said happily.
"Boom, boom, boom!" The sound of closing the city drums came from afar.
"Let's go! It's getting late, we should go back!" Li Chengqian said. In a blink of an eye, the day passed quickly.
"Let's go!" Li Tai agreed, but actually wanted to chat for a while longer.
Everyone hurriedly got on their carriages and headed back.
After leaving the Ministry of Works, pedestrians on the road hurried, trying to get home before the drum beats stopped.
"Hey, stop!" Su Ying saw an old farmer carrying a basket of unsold hawthorns.
The convoy stopped and Su Ying jumped out of the car. "Old man, how much are the hawthorns?"
"My lord, ten cents a pound." The old man carrying hawthorns was frightened by the Eastern Palace's ceremonial guard. The sound of drums urged people to return, but someone blocked the way.
"I'll buy them all! Sell me the baskets together!" Su Ying didn't have time to bargain or weigh the money, and took out half a dozen coins from the carriage.
"Please wait a moment, sir. I'll give you the change!" The old man counted out the half-dozen coins.
"Uncle, there's no need to count. If there are extra ones, there's no need to look for them. Go back quickly, or the city will be closed!" Su Ying said with a smile.
In the past, hawthorns were only two or three cents per pound. Now it is New Year's Day and it is the middle of winter, so there are not many fruits, so they can be sold at ten cents per pound.
There were about 40 pounds in the two baskets, and together with the baskets, it was more than half a hundred dollars.
"Thank you very much, sir! You are so rich and powerful!" The old man thanked him happily and quickened his pace to rush to the city gate.
"Master Xiao Su, are you going to make hawthorn cake?" Li Tai looked at the red fruit, his mouth full of saliva.
"Xiaotao and Atang want to eat candied haws." Su Ying smiled.
"Why not make the hawthorn cake as well? We can learn from it!" Li Tai swallowed and said.
"But, Your Highness, close the city immediately!" Su Ying calculated that the drumbeats should have exceeded three hundred.
"It doesn't matter. Let's go to Su Mansion today. Otherwise, we will have to follow Gao Ming back to the East Palace!" Li Tai said.
"And let me try your cooking! They say most of the meat dishes in Lingnan come from Master Xiao Su's hand!"
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