"Thirteenth Prince, think again. You can think of any way to deceive Xu Sangui. Just deal with it and find out the whereabouts of the object." Ming Zhaoxia advised.
"The seriousness of Xu Sangui's injury has been sustained by his concern for his nephew. How can a dying person bear to be deceived?" Zhao Si shook his head.
"Thirteenth Prince, you also know that Xu Sangui is about to die soon. Just think of it as a thought for him before he dies." Ming Zhaoxia's words made Zhao Si fall into deep thought.
Cen Meng and Xue Fanzi were also advising from the side, "Your Highness, telling a white lie can be considered a good deed."
Zhao Si raised his head and said firmly: "The Xu family has no heirs, and they don't want to be Khitan's lackeys. I can't bear to deceive such a loyal person."
"Thirteenth Master, what if Xu Sangui refuses to tell the whereabouts of that thing because he is so angry and angry?" Ming Zhaoxia said anxiously.
"Even without that thing, I can still defeat King Shen! I'm not strong enough on my own and rely on external things for everything. Sooner or later I'll have to pay the price."
Zhao Si said categorically.
"Your Highness, we are here." Wang Zhen came in and announced.
"Okay, let's go see Xu Sangui together." Zhao Si walked in front, and everyone followed and entered another room together.
Xu Sangui was lying on the bed, watching Zhao Si walk in, his eyes full of hope and expectation. But as Zhao Si came closer and saw the look on his face clearly, Xu Sangui's hope was quickly disappearing.
"Xu Sangui, we rushed into Beiji Temple and only found your nephew's body."
Zhao Si took the silver lock handed over by Xue Fanzi and showed it to Xu Sangui.
Xu Sangui closed his eyes in pain, his body wrapped in cloth was shaking constantly, and tears were flowing down his face.
He opened his mouth wide, and everyone could clearly see him roaring with all his strength, but no sound could be heard, and they could only see his broken soul floating out one by one.
"Xu Sangui, we killed Yelu Guimi and all twenty-nine of his men, and the Beiji Temple was burned to the ground by us." Zhao Si grabbed Xu Sangui's hand and said in a deep voice, "Qiu, I'm temporarily
I can only help you report here. But please don’t worry, it won’t be long before I will burn down the Beiji Temple outside Nanjing City, Liao Kingdom for you!”
Xu Sangui's face turned red with excitement. He struggled to straighten his neck, and his veins almost swelled, and he finally made a heartbreaking sound.
"burn!"
"Burn him! Burn him clean!" Zhao followed with a sigh of relief.
Xu Sangui lay back on the bed, gasping for air. After a while, using the breath he just had, he said: "I said..."
"Wait a minute, tell him. Lao Li, come here quickly."
Li Daofa, the deputy commander of the Imperial Palace Division and in charge of the Imperial City Division's affairs, responded and quickly stepped forward and put his ear to Xu Sangui's.
After listening, he stood up and bowed his hands to Zhao Si, "Your Majesty, I will go get something first."
"Okay, take it and present it directly to the official."
"As you command!"
Not long after Li Daofa left, Xu Sangui reluctantly breathed his last.
"Mengzi, find a geomantic treasure land, buy four good coffins, and bury Xu's family of four alive."
"yes!"
At this time, Wang Xun came in and reported: "Your Highness, people from Kaifeng Mansion have gone to inspect the site of Beiji Temple."
"Um."
"Your Highness, we are good at killing Yelu Guimi and others, and Li Furen and the others in the Hexi family know it. Once the news leaks out, will it really cause disputes between the two countries?"
Wang Zhen asked carefully.
"Master Wang, when we killed the Yelv Ghost Secret Group, not only the Xiandao Hall knew about it, but also the eyes and ears of many people. Rumors of this may have leaked to the ears of the Sifang Pavilion and the Khitan envoy."
Zhao said with enthusiasm.
"With worries in the east and ties in the west, what great things can be accomplished? If the Liao Kingdom really wants to raise troops based on this, I will be the first to go to the front line in Hebei. Even if I die in battle, I will admit it."
"Master Wang, barbarians are rampaging across the country and tyrannizing the people. I, the prince, and you soldiers, feel guilty."
Wang Zhen looked solemn and bowed respectfully.
"Your Majesty, Wang Zhengchen has learned a lesson!"
Zhao Si waved his hand and said, "Master Wang, don't worry too much. Yelu Guimi said that he is the governor's Taibao. Is there anyone who can drive him? Is there someone who can guide the envoy to connect? He is secretly lurking outside the city of Tokyo in our country.
.I also want to ask the Lord of the Khitan Kingdom, what is their intention behind such ulterior motives? Don’t worry, they don’t dare to make it public.”
Wang Zhen was also relieved, "It was the official who was overly worried."
The group returned to the palace, where Li Dan and Ye Shi were waiting.
"You are here. How are the preparations for the Jingxi Coal Plant and Chenliu Winery going?"
Ye Shi cupped his hands and replied.
"Back to Your Highness, the Jingxi Coal Plant has made good preparations. It is trial-production and purchasing coal, recruiting and training workers. The first batch of briquettes will leave the factory early next month. It is planned to produce 10,000 briquettes per day and 100 coal stoves. But we
I am confident that the daily production can be increased to 100,000 pieces and 500 coal stoves before winter."
"How do you price it?"
This time Li Dan answered aloud.
According to Zhao Si's arrangement, Ye Shi was in charge of industry, Li Dan was in charge of land commerce, and Su Xingfang was in charge of maritime commerce.
"When I came back to Your Highness, we did some research. The current market price in Kaifeng City is twenty to thirty cents per load of firewood. One load of firewood can burn for three to five days. We need four briquettes for one day. So we
When we add it all together, the price of honeycomb briquettes is two cents and three cents."
"Another big problem is how to price coal stoves? If the price is set high, ordinary people cannot afford it. Without a coal stove, it will be useless no matter how cheap our briquettes are. After thinking about it, I discussed with Brother Shi and made it first.
Make a batch of the simplest coal stoves, tentatively 5,000 of them, and give them away for free."
Free gift? What a talented person!
Li Dan saw the look of encouragement on Zhao Si's face and happily continued.
"After the delivery is over, we will see what happens. If the people still don't accept it, we will offer another 3,000 free coal stoves. If they accept it, we will slightly improve the coal stoves and sell them for twenty cents each. Yes.
It is relatively cheap, and as long as people continue to use briquettes, we will make money."
Zhao Si couldn't help but raise his thumb, "Brother Li Dan, you are amazing! It's free. The most expensive thing in the world is free."
Li Dan's eyes lit up. The more he thought about this sentence, the more profound it felt.
"In addition, this coal stove can be divided into several grades. The expensive ones are more luxurious in appearance and have more functions, and are reserved for princes and nobles. The lower grades are reserved for wealthy people. The low-end ones are thicker and easier to use, and are reserved for wealthy families.
Common people, instead of using firewood, using coal stoves is a great progress. From now on, common people can drink boiled water at any time, which will reduce diseases. The merits are immeasurable!"
"I just want to sternly warn buyers that the stove cannot be used in the house, it will kill them."
After hearing Zhao Si's words, Ye Shi and Li Dan were shocked, "Your Majesty, is this briquette poisonous?"
"It's not poisonous, it burns out something useful in the air, yes, it's life. If the ventilation is not good, the life outside the house cannot be replenished, and the life inside the house is burned out, people will die. Not only briquettes,
Firewood, charcoal, and anything with a fire will burn out the vitality. Without ventilation and replenishment, it will kill people."
Of course we can’t say it’s poisonous. If we say it’s poisonous, how can we make money by selling it?
Zhao Si explained, and Ye Shi and Li Dan nodded.
"Your Highness, Chen Liu's winery is ready, and the large distiller you requested has been built and set up. Now we are waiting for the wine purchased from various places to arrive. But now that food is expensive, we are not willing to use it to make wine. Shopkeeper Su is contacting us
Maritime merchants purchased grain and first wine from Champa and other places in the South China Sea."
After hearing Ye Shi's words, Zhao Si also sighed.
When can we get sweet potatoes, corn, and potatoes, the three greatest treasures of agriculture?
Our own shipyard has just found an acquisition target, and it is still too early to go out to sea to hunt for treasure.
After the discussion was completed, Li Dan and Ye Shi said goodbye and left, and Cao Duo hurried over.
"Thirteenth Master, Li Daofa picked up some items from the Earth Temple at the entrance of the Xujia alley and hurriedly entered the palace. Within a quarter of an hour, the chamberlain came out of the palace and called King Shen into the palace. He hasn't come out yet. Nothing good should happen."
"It's definitely not good. I can guess that it may be a secret alliance between the twelfth brother and the Khitan envoy. The Khitan supports him to succeed and sit on the throne, and he repays the Khitan with great benefits. It's roughly like this. I'm too lazy to guess the details. It's just that
I'm thinking, what's so wrong with Brother Twelve that you dare to keep such a thing in your hands?"
Cao Duo also laughed, "King Shen is a very thoughtful person. I didn't expect that a hundred secrets would reveal such a big clue. He must have failed this time. Thirteenth Prince, after King Shen passed away, will it be King Suining's turn again?"
?”
"No, it's time for Ninth Brother."
"King Shen? Isn't he nearly blind?"
"My ninth brother is blind but not blind."
1. Nanjing here is the capital of the Liao Kingdom, Nanjing, and Xijin Prefecture, today's north-southwest of Beijing. This chapter has been completed!