Prince of Tang Dynasty

Chapter 578 The Land of Coal and Iron

If someone else said that he would use [-] guan to buy all the coal under the Wang family's sphere of influence, Wang Ze would definitely agree without thinking about it, but if this is a clever thing, he dare not agree like this.

Because almost everyone knows that Gao Ming has the ability to turn decay into magic, and his money-making skills are beyond the reach of their aristocratic families.

Just the management strategy and the speed of making money of a rugby field alone are beyond the reach of all the aristocratic families. How dare Wang Ze take advantage of someone as shrewd as Gao Ming?

"Is this coal really a good thing? It has benefits that I don't know about?"

Thinking of this, Wang Ze immediately hesitated, but seeing his hesitation, Gao Ming laughed.

"How about it? One hundred thousand guan came to buy coal from your Wang family, can this deal be done?"

"This..." Now Wang Ze didn't dare to directly agree to Gao Ming, but cupped his hands towards Gao Ming: "His Royal Highness, please tell Your Highness if there is any kind of expression in this coal!"

Seeing Wang Ze's sincere expression, Gao Ming also knew that this would not work, so he shrugged his shoulders helplessly.

"I knew you wouldn't agree, okay, then I'll tell you about the importance of this coal. First, let me ask you, do you know what the fuel for a steam engine is?"

"I know!" As soon as Gao Ming finished speaking, Wang Ze nodded immediately, "It's coal!"

Hearing Wang Ze's answer, Gao Ming nodded with a smile.

"By the way, do you know why I use coal as fuel for my steam engine?"

"This..." Obviously, Wang Ze didn't know this question, so he thought for a while before tentatively answering: "Because you don't want money?"

"Hahahaha!"

Hearing Wang Ze's answer, Gao Ming couldn't help laughing immediately. Seeing Gao Ming smiling like this, no matter how stupid Wang Ze was, he knew he had guessed wrong, and immediately lowered his head with a blushing face.

Seeing Wang Ze's embarrassment, Gao Ming took a deep breath, then smiled and shook his head at Wang Ze.

"The reason for not needing money is really... Well, let me tell you directly, the reason why the steam engine chooses to burn coal is because the coal is not only powerful, but also burns for a long time!"

"The firepower is fierce, how long does it burn?"

After hearing Gao Ming's answer, Wang Ze thought about it carefully, and found that coal did burn longer than charcoal, but he felt that this was not enough to cover up the shortcomings of coal, so he bowed to Gao Ming again.

"His Royal Highness, please forgive me for speaking bluntly. Even though coal can burn for a long time, charcoal poison should not be underestimated!"

"Charcoal poison?" Hearing this word, Gao Ming was taken aback for a moment, but then laughed again, "You mean the poisonous gas released when coal burns, but in fact, as long as you pay attention to ventilation, that thing is not threatening, think about it , Those who were poisoned by charcoal, did they all close their doors and windows?"

Hearing Gao Ming's words, Wang Ze immediately frowned and thought about it, as if he was recalling something, and soon, he showed a surprised expression.

"It seems to be true. As His Royal Highness said, those who were poisoned by charcoal burned charcoal at home with their doors and windows closed!"

"That's right!" Gao Ming smiled slightly, and then spread his hands towards Wang Ze: "So, as long as you pay attention to ventilation, charcoal poisoning is not a threat, and this thing is very helpful for ironmaking! "

"Is it helpful for ironmaking?" Hearing Gao Ming's words, Wang Ze's eyes widened again.

Now most of the Taiyuan Wang family’s income comes from iron, that is to say, how much iron can be smelted has a great impact on the Wang family. Now that Gao Ming said that coal is helpful for iron smelting, he naturally became interested.

So he saluted Gao Ming again.

"I also ask His Royal Highness to enlighten me!"

"It's easy to say!" Gao Ming smiled slightly, and then said again, "As far as I know, most of the blowers used in ironmaking in the entire Tang Dynasty, including Taiyuan, require manpower, right?"

Hearing Gao Ming's words, Wang Ze nodded immediately.

"Yes, even in our Wang family, there are only a few blacksmiths with drains, and the others are hand-pulled."

Water row, that is, hydraulic blower, although this thing has appeared in the Han Dynasty, but affected by the environment, the efficiency of such a blower is actually very unstable, so most people still rely on manpower to make iron, which is what blacksmiths like Reasons for recruiting apprentices.

If you want to learn blacksmithing, you must help the master pull the bellows for a year first!
Relying on pure manpower to smelt iron is naturally not very efficient, but for this era, this is a normal situation, so there is no superfluous expression on Wang Ze's face at this time.

But Gao Ming shook his head.

"Whether it's water drainage or human pull, the efficiency is too low, but I'm afraid you can't understand it. I hope you go to the Ministry of Military Industry to see what kind of blower is used by the Ministry of Military Industry, and then Come back again!"

"Go to the Ministry of Military Industry first?" Hearing Gao Ming's words, Wang Ze seemed to understand something, so he immediately stood up, bowed to Gao Ming, and said, "Then I will take my leave first!"

"Go!"

After getting Gao Ming's consent, Wang Ze respectfully exited the study, then left the East Palace and headed towards the Ministry of Military Industry.

When Wang Ze arrived at the Ministry of Military Industry, Lu Zhi just came out from the gate of the Ministry of Military Industry. After seeing Wang Ze, Lu Zhi greeted him immediately with a smile.

"Haha, isn't this Brother Wang Xian? It's a good thing His Highness recruited a good brother this time? Brother Yu is here to congratulate you first!"

Having said that, Lu Zhi bowed his hands to Wang Ze with a smile on his face.

Originally, Wang Ze was a little dissatisfied with Lu Zhi because of the previous affairs in the court, but after all, the other party was one level older than himself in the official position, and now that he greeted people with a smiling face, it was enough to give him face, so Wang Ze could only smile He bowed his hands to Lu Zhi.

"Lord Lu, you are being polite. In fact, His Highness hasn't told me anything specific. He just asked me to come here to have a look at the bellows first."

"Bellows?" Hearing Wang Ze's words, Lu Zhi grinned again, "Then you are at the right place, the bellows of the Ministry of Military Industry is amazing, even Brother Yu saw it for the first time in his life, you will see it later Don't be too surprised, haha!"

"Oh?" Originally, Wang Ze was a little disapproving, but now hearing Lu Zhi's words, his curiosity was indeed aroused, so he cupped his hands towards Lu Zhi.

"Since Mr. Lu has seen it, why don't you tell me what is so magical about the bellows of the Ministry of Military Industry?"

"Hahahaha!" As soon as Wang Ze finished speaking, Lu Zhi laughed again, and waved towards him while laughing.

"Don't say it, don't say it. Brother Yu has signed a non-disclosure agreement, so he can't say anything. If Brother Wang wants to know, just go in and have a look. Brother Yu has something to do, so let's leave first!"

After finishing speaking, Lu Zhi cupped his hands towards Wang Ze, then turned and left. Seeing his leaving back, Wang Ze was even more puzzled.

"What can't be said about a bellows, and what is this non-disclosure agreement?"

Thinking of this, Wang Ze frowned, and walked towards the gate of the Military Industry Department full of doubts.

(End of this chapter)