open sea

Chapter 271 Not Missing
Chen Mu finally had his own understanding of the direction of Daming in the historical context, although this understanding made him feel powerless.

During the long period of cultural development, people with knowledge studied the ancient political science applicable to China all their lives, and the structure emerged in this political system that ruled a large number of people and a vast territory with very few bureaucrats.

The method is restraint, mutual containment and even internal friction. Like the stability of the triangle, the Ming government is also extremely stable internally, but the price paid for this stability is its extremely poor ability to resist external pressure.

It's like a rule, it binds everyone, even the emperor can only open and sniff a winter cucumber, let alone others.

Some things you know are good, but you can't do them.

He also finally fully understood why Hai Rui was hidden in the snow.

Because Daming's ailing body couldn't resist tiger-wolf medicine, even if the cabinet ministers knew where the problem was and knew that the problem was serious, it was obvious that Hai Rui, who was outside of this set of rules, would bring more harm.

It's either black or white, it doesn't work in Daming.

But Chen Mu still asked the little eunuch in private to ask how the Bite Spring Garden in Ehui Pond was made. He didn't have to do it, but he had to know, had to understand, because maybe at some point, these things would be big. useful.

At the same time, someone rode a fast horse alone in the wind and snow to Xuanfu, and brought back a simple coal stove and briquettes.

Of course, when General Chen entered the palace again, he did not forget to find the pie shop mentioned by Emperor Longqing from outside the Donghua Gate, and asked someone to make several flavors of pies and bring them into the palace. Let the emperor take a look at our house. Honeycomb stove.

Today a coal furnace worker came to the palace, not to mention the eunuchs and maids, the family members of the palace were called out by Long Qing to see this new thing, the little prince was also called over from the East Palace, and looked at General Chen from a distance Briquettes add coal to the fire.

"There is a ventilation hole below, and the fire needs wind. Open it, the fire will burn upwards, and the wind will go up. First, put some broken wood in it, and then you can put coal balls in." Chen Mu mainly explained to the eunuch , It is useless to tell the emperor about it, and he will not get this thing with his own hands. "Put one piece first, then it will burn up in a while, and then add more after burning. You can add three pieces. The holes must be aligned, otherwise the wind will not come out." It will be gone in a while."

Feng Bao was waiting by the emperor's side. Seeing Chen Mu filling in the coal, he looked closer and asked, "General Chen, how long does it take for this briquette to burn?"

Chen Mu smiled, raised his finger and said, "Please look, Governor, it's burning."

"Hey, Grandpa, General Chen has a way with this stove, it burns really fast!"

Feng Bao's grandfather called it smoothly, Chen Mu almost didn't pinch the coal ball, and there was nothing strange on his face, he quickly smiled and threw his hat over, saying: "The governor is a man of both civil and military skills, the former gunpowder It is a piece of noodles, which burns flat, and then becomes granules. At the same time, the burned noodles are larger, so the fire is uniform. We want it to be fast, and we want it to be slow."

"It's the same with the briquettes. In the past, they were all briquettes, and they burned on a flat surface. Not to mention the slow burning, it was uneven. Sometimes it was fast, sometimes it was slow. There was no telling when it was time to add fire. , there will be a lot of waste, not to mention insufficient burning and charcoal poisoning."

"The general said." Feng Bao probed and asked, "Is this charcoal poisonous?"

Charcoal poisoning is carbon monoxide produced by incomplete combustion.

"There's this too, but it's a little less, and it still can't be ordered indoors. If you want to use it indoors, it must be well ventilated." Chen Mu raised his hand and smiled easily, and said to Feng Bao: "Cooking and boiling water can be done outdoors. If it is indoors To keep warm, let’s connect it with an iron chimney to direct the smoke outside, or make some iron pipes to fill it with water, and find a way to keep the water flowing, and the hall will be warm.”

Chen Mu felt that this could be a set. If Nanyang or the Xuanfu steam engine had a prototype, this set of things could be linked to save resources.

The invention of the steam engine was originally used for mining coal and pumping groundwater.Coal mines in China are widely distributed. Ming people never dug deep coal mines, because they knew that they would cover the tunnels after they had dug enough, and new ones would be produced after 30 to [-] years. They were inexhaustible .

Emperor Longqing looked around, but didn't see any tricks, so he asked Chen Mu: "General Chen, you said that you want Wanquan to make this to subsidize daily expenses. Is it possible? The hole is square and upright, and it takes more time to make it than ordinary briquettes. If it is cheap, the banner army cannot make ends meet, and if it is expensive, the common people cannot afford it.”

"Your Majesty, don't worry too much. This briquette is good because it is fully burned. Maybe a briquette is sold for a little more than the same large briquette, but its burning time is longer than that of a briquette, and it catches fire faster than a briquette. After all, it is cheaper for the common people to use briquettes than briquettes, and it will not delay the drill of the flag army, and the rest of the army can do it. But I still have one thing to worry about, and I have something to ask Your Majesty."

It was unimaginable for Wei Jun to do business more than 100 years ago, but now it has become a well-known thing in the world, especially in front of the emperor and internal officials. When they asked the emperor for help, Long Qing and Feng Bao looked at each other.

"General Chen, tell me, what is it?"

"Your Majesty asked the ministers to supervise the Xuanfu, and the cabinet ministers sent ministers for the same thing, for one thing, to revive the guard army that has been exhausted for many years. The minister believes that training the guard army and revitalizing the guard system are related to the economy. Inseparable, in the early and early years when the banner army was set up, they had military fields and sufficient food and strength, and the guards were majestic at that time."

"But now all the guards are not enough, and they can't get enough to eat. How can we talk about training? So I started from two aspects, one is training and system, and the other is to let the banner army form its own industry. Formation Industry is easy, the guards have enough surplus, and for three to five years, they can eat enough to eat and wear warm clothes, but control is very difficult, I don't want to bother for a few years, fatten the guards, and suffer the banner army."

"Just like this briquette. In the past, briquettes in the capital cost one tael per thousand catties. Coal briquettes can be sold for one tael per thousand catties, but a thousand catties of coal balls can be burned as [-] catties of briquettes. The coal consumed by Shuntian alone in one year How much more than tens of millions of jins of cakes? As for Xuanda and Jiliao, profits can be foreseen. This huge amount of wealth can not only rejuvenate the Wanquan Banner Army, but can even subsidize the soldiers of the Xuanfu."

"The guards may not be afraid of the ministers, but the guards must be afraid of the ministers, because the ministers are the relatives of the holy family. Therefore, the minister thought, please send a few ministers to Wanquan, and the funds obtained by the briquettes will not only subsidize the sergeants, but also the rest. A few percent will be transported to His Majesty's inner treasury in the palace, on the one hand, it can guard against the greedy hearts of the guards, and on the other hand, it can also make the silver be used in more appropriate places."

Something is wrong with Long Qing and Feng Bao's small eyes.

But before the two of them could speak, Chen Mu cupped his hands and said eagerly: "I know that this is a competition with the people, and the royal family does not lack this little silver, but only internal officials can restrain the long-standing evil guards!"

Long Qing wore a round-neck dragon robe, stroked his left rib with his right hand, rested his left elbow on his right hand, brushed his beard around his lips with his fingers, and watched Chen Mu frown and meditate.

It took a long time before he opened his mouth and said, "Who is Chen Qing listening to nonsense, who said that I have no shortage?"

　Good morning!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)