Although the sun was shining brightly during the day, it was still late winter after all, and the biting cold wind blew as expected at night.

The doors and windows of the United Restaurant were closed, and the guests inside were laughing and changing glasses under the lamps. Wonderful shows were constantly being performed on the stage, making this banquet very lively.

Among the first-level ministers, except for Huang Guangsheng, the official minister, Ge Shouli, the household minister, and Wang Ting, the Zuodu censor, the other three ministers arrived as scheduled.

More than a dozen of the third-rank Beijing officials at the rank of minister came, and more than half of the officials at the minister level and below came, especially almost all the officials from the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Husbandry and the Ministry of War came.

As the watchman rang the gong in the cold wind, this rare high-level banquet came to an end, and the officials who walked out of the restaurant left in sedans or carriages.

Lin Haoran's face looked a little tired. He hadn't done such high-intensity social work for a long time. Just now, he deliberately let the banquet end early. When everyone was almost gone, he came down from upstairs, but he didn't see anyone.

The figure of the birthday boy.

The door curtain was opened, and the cold wind from outside blew in. Lin Haoran's body shivered slightly, and he found that the winter in this era was really torturous.

A tall carriage had stopped in front of the restaurant, and the person in charge of driving the carriage was an unusually tall man. When he saw Lin Haoran, he grinned.

Lin Haoran knew that this was Fantan's way of expressing friendship, but he knew that Lin, who had been bouncing around since childhood, could not get into the carriage in advance, so he just looked around.

Lin Pingping walked out of the alley next to the restaurant, and followed the restaurant owner's serious instructions. When he saw Lin Haoran waiting beside the carriage, he hurriedly raised his hand and ran towards this side and said:

"Brother, I'm coming!"

As we talk, people move from far to near.

Lin Haoran watched this scene knowingly. From the wild girl with two pigtails to the youthful girl now, this sister seems to have always been so eager to flirt.

"Get in the car!"

"Um!"

The two siblings had a casual exchange, and Lin Pingtan took the lead in jumping on the carriage. Lin Haoran turned around and saw a group of people already standing in the darkness at the entrance of the alleyway, but sighed secretly, and then stepped on the bench and got on the carriage.

Although there is still some time before the curfew, there are still few people walking around at night in winter, so many shops close their doors early, mainly some food shops are still open.

The carriage rolled over the snow on the brick street, and the wheels made regular sounds. Everything was so ordinary and warm.

Lin usually seemed very quiet. It was through the ray of light outside the car window that his beautiful big eyes looked at an ordinary round brown pebble held between his fingers.

As Lin Haoran grew older, especially after joining the cabinet, he became more and more silent, even sitting upright in this carriage.

Tonight's banquet is undoubtedly a success, and it can be regarded as a successful end to Lin Ping Ping's old age. Over the years, he has not paid much attention to his own birthday, but he only remembers his sister's birthday.

Lin Haoran saw Lin Ping put away the ordinary brown stone. As if he suddenly remembered something, he took out a gift he had prepared from the side and said, "Happy birthday!"

"Thank you, brother!" Lin Pingping's heart immediately warmed up, and he happily reached out to take the gift.

Lin Haoran pursed her lips and looked at the wild girl who was growing up day by day, as if she had grown from a wild girl to a big girl in the blink of an eye. When he saw her opening the silk cloth expectantly, he hurriedly reminded: "Your hands are really dirty!

"

Fantan, who was driving the carriage, heard this reminder and couldn't help but turned his head curiously, and then continued to drive the carriage conscientiously.

Lin Pingfan opened the silk scarf like peeling off a rice dumpling and found a cone-shaped object in his hand.

A bright light happened to shine through the car window, allowing her to see clearly that the thing in her hand was dark, and there were dense round holes in the center, which seemed to be a strange-shaped briquette.

Out of her understanding of her brother, she naturally would not think that he was teasing her with a weird-shaped briquette, so she looked up at her brother in confusion and asked: "Brother, have you come up with something new again?"

?”

From the telescope she received as a birthday gift to the Pearl River pocket watch she received later, she already knew that her brother was not only a pillar of the country, but also a powerful inventor.

The carriage happened to pass in front of a noisy restaurant, and a ray of light shone through the window, reflecting on the girl's cute and curious face.

Lin Haoran felt the trust of his sister, so he smiled and said: "Charcoal in the capital is expensive, and firewood is not cheap either. In winter, you can only use the firewood stored at home, so many ordinary people in the capital can only use briquettes. This

The disadvantages of growing briquettes are also obvious. They burn so much smoke and dust that they often make people choke and run out of the kitchen." There was a pause.

, his eyes fell on the briquettes in Lin Ping Ping's hand and continued: "The dust of the briquettes is caused by too much floating matter, and the smoke is caused by the coal's high ignition point and insufficient combustion. We only need to look at these three aspects.

By making improvements, we can obtain this smokeless and dustless coal, which can well replace charcoal and firewood, thus greatly reducing the cost of heating and cooking for ordinary households!"

Some seemingly casual improvements can affect the entire life. Although briquettes have been available in China since the late Tang Dynasty, the development of briquettes also has great limitations.

The emergence of briquettes actually had to wait for three hundred years, but now, he planned to break the wait. Not only would ordinary people no longer have to endure the pain of thick smoke and choking noses, but also it would allow ordinary people to reduce some of their living costs.

"Brother, is this thing really so powerful? Is there really no smoke when burning?" Lin Pingdao didn't mind that the briquettes would stain his hands, but he held the briquettes with gleaming eyes and tried to prove it.

Lin Haoran looked confident and said: "I have written the production method on the wrapped silk scarf. In fact, the production method is very simple. You can produce it by following the steps above. You will know if my brother is cheating after you try it.

People!" After a pause, he said gently: "If we can make this kind of honeycomb... no, usually

If coal is widely promoted, the cost of living for ordinary people can be reduced! Whether it is mining coal mines, the process of making ordinary coal, or transporting ordinary coal, these processes require a large amount of manpower. If you plan to build an ordinary

A large coal production workshop can also solve the livelihood problem of the refugees in the north of the city!"

"Yeah, why didn't I think of this!" After hearing Lin Haoran's reminder, Lin Pingtan habitually slapped his fair forehead with his palm in frustration.

Lin Haoran's eyes suddenly flashed with something strange, but he asked with a suppressed smile: "Are you satisfied with the birthday gift that my brother has prepared for you?"

"Satisfied, I will start building a large workshop for ordinary coal production tomorrow. First, solve the livelihood problem of the refugees in the north of the city, and then strive to bring ordinary coal to the market before the year!" Lin Pingfan had a black mark on his forehead and nose.

, nodded enthusiastically.

Lin Haoran looked at Lin Pingping, whose face was full of excitement and expectation, but couldn't help but sigh secretly in his heart.

Originally, he didn't care about the briquettes. After all, with the financial resources of the United Business Group now as rich as the country, they already had enough profits of tens of thousands taels this year. It was not something that he, the cabinet minister, should consider.

But what he saw and heard in the north of the city that day made him understand that maybe he couldn't just try to kill Xu Jie. He seemed to have to do more for the people of this era, and even subvert this era.

That's why he took great pains to prepare this fifteen-year-old gift for his sister.

After a while, the carriage stopped steadily in front of the Lin Mansion.

Lin Haoran followed Lin Pingfan out of the carriage. Xiaotu, who was walking past the door, reminded her in surprise that she realized that her face was inexplicably dirty.

Unlike many girls who love beauty, she didn't care at all and hurried into the house with the treasure-like briquettes, but she planned to test the briquettes.

After seeing Lin Ping Ping's dirty face, Little Rabbit looked even more nervous than Lin Ping Ping. He chased after him and said crisply: "Miss, you go back to your room first, and I'll get you hot water right now!"

When Lin Haoran returned home, he felt that the place was very warm and he walked towards the west courtyard. Since today was Lin Pingping's birthday, the red lanterns tonight looked particularly festive.

There were also two red lanterns hanging in the west courtyard, and the lights were still on in the main room. The people inside seemed to have been informed by the maid, and a beautiful woman with loving eyes came to the door.

"Be careful!" When Lin Haoran entered the room, he immediately stepped forward and carefully supported the pregnant Hua Yingrong.

Thanks to Lin Haoran's hard work, Hua Yingrong is now pregnant, and her whole person seems less feminine and more maternal.

She was unable to have children for a long time, and she once suspected that it was a physical problem, and even gave up on being a mother.

Now her belly is bulging day by day, making her feel like she has found a treasure. Her heart is full of infinite expectations, eager to see the birth and growth of this little life.

As early as two months ago, she had given up her plan to leave the capital. Not only did she rarely move around the capital, she almost always stayed at home to raise her baby.

Lin Haoran felt relieved when he saw Hua Yingrong sitting back on the bed, and felt a sense of mission to protect the little life.

The two purple-clothed maids who were dealing with the account books saw Hua Yingrong wink at them, picked up the account books on the table, and left with a polite gesture.

"Master, here comes the hot water!" A maid reminded her cautiously as she brought the hot water.

Lin Haoran took the wet towel sent by the maid, wiped his face carefully, sent the maid away, and then told some things about tonight, and finally said in a mocking tone: "My husband, this time

After working so hard to raise soldiers’ pay, I’m afraid someone will jump out and stab us now!”

"I still don't understand. Since this job is so thankless, why did my husband take this job?" Hua Yingrong asked curiously, leaning on the bedside and looking at Lin Haoran, who seemed uncertain about everything.

Lin Haoran took a sip of water and then responded seriously: "This matter has to be continued. Fortunately, the snow today is much heavier than in previous years. Otherwise, I am afraid that my husband will not be able to stay in the capital with you safely now!" He paused.

After a pause, he continued to complain: "If

We officials also eat chaffy vegetables in the capital. The Jiubian soldiers may feel better, but what we officials eat are delicacies from the mountains and seas. This time, in order to consolidate his throne as chief minister, Xu Jie found a way to

If you attack me, you will no longer consider the Ming Dynasty’s border defense!”

"I think he may have considered it, so he defaulted on military expenses and wanted to put my husband in danger!" Hua Yingrong sighed secretly and analyzed it seriously.

Although she has not entered the court, she has followed Lin Haoran and talked about everything over the years, and with her understanding of the shopping mall, she can guess Xu Jie's little thoughts.

Lin Haoran put down the tea cup gently and said with disdain: "His methods will only disgust himself. I don't know what he is thinking. This time it is just a matter of course!"

"The reason why Mr. Xianggong took over this troublesome matter is actually because he wanted to take the opportunity to disturb Datong's military morale?" Hua Yingrong's heart moved slightly, and she immediately asked seriously.

Lin Haoran came to the bed and sat down, then nodded gently and said: "Yang Bo didn't even have any outstanding military exploits, so why was he able to intimidate the soldiers from all over the world? It was precisely because he solved their livelihood problems. Now the imperial court doesn't want to care about it.

Datong Army, it’s not a bad thing to work harder for my husband. Datong soldiers will also sincerely support me from now on!" After a pause, he asked seriously: "By the way, how are you preparing for the charity auction?

Already?"

"Since I am going to be my husband's right-hand man, how can I not handle this little thing well? I will hold a charity sale tomorrow night to ensure that I will not hinder my husband!" A smile appeared on Hua Yingrong's face, which looked affectionate.

Responded sweetly.

Lin Haoran was also overjoyed, and nodded gently: "I'll leave the business matters to you. My husband can rest assured, but you must remember to take good care of our children!"

Although Hua Yingrong has been pregnant for seven months and should be expected to wait at home honestly for the birth, Lin Haoran knows that Hua Yingrong is not a canary by nature, so he never interferes with Hua Yingrong's business affairs, and even takes the initiative to take care of this matter.

Important philanthropic undertakings were left to her to run.

"Well, I will pay attention!" Hua Yingrong happily touched her big belly and made plans: "When our children grow up, whether they are boys or girls, I want them to spend more time outside as usual.

Move around!”

"Don't make trouble, I don't want to have a wild girl or boy in the house. Do you think being a husband is not enough trouble for you?" Lin Haoran pulled up the quilt and lay down, with black lines immediately hanging on his face.

"Although you say so, in your heart you still like the child to be as lively as a normal sister, right? I think it would be good for the child to be taken by her aunt. I am not the only one who thinks so, I am afraid Qiu Yu also thinks so!"

Yingrong turned to look at him and said seriously.

Lin Haoran had a wry smile on his face, realizing that as he grew older, especially as he soon became the father of two children, the responsibilities on his shoulders became heavier.

As for his child running around with his sister, it doesn't seem to be unacceptable.

For example, at tonight's banquet, the guests who came here hardly touched the delicacies on the table. However, my sister could remember the refugees in the capital, but she gave the leftover food to these refugees so that these refugees could have a full meal.

A meal.

Sometimes, he feels that he is also a growing child, slowly understanding the difference between good and evil, and understanding his own mission.

The night wind outside made a whimpering sound, but Hua Yingrong happily snuggled next to Lin Haoran and fell asleep, while Lin Haoran was planning the future.

While many people were looking forward to the forty-sixth year of Jiajing, he knew clearly that the Ming Dynasty did not have the forty-fifth year of Jiajing. The emperor who still obsessed with spending national money to build palaces was about to reach the end of his life.
Chapter completed!