Yuan Yuan invited him to eat together. Li Chengzhi took a look and saw that not only were cattle, sheep, and pigs available, but there seemed to be venison as well.
This is a great tonic, especially in winter, this is a really good thing.
Li Chengzhi twitched his index finger, and just as he was about to sit down, he suddenly smelled a faint, vague smell.
It seems to be a light fragrance, but when you smell it carefully, you will know that it is the kind of powdery smell unique to women, with the smell of sweat.
For some reason, the fragrance seems to have a bit of a fishy smell, just like being in a seaside fishery in midsummer and seeing dead fish and rotten shrimps piled on the ground...
Looking down, everything on the table is filled with meat, without any parallel imports. Where is the smell of seafood?
His nose twitched slightly, Li Chengzhi followed the smell and fixed his eyes on Yuan Yan.
There seemed to be some rouge on his cheeks, it was clear that he had hugged a woman just now...
Let me go, dead fish and rotten shrimp?
"This pot, this meat...were all brought by the generals?"
Yuan Yan pointed to the copper pot and asked: "Except for you, this thing is everywhere in the capital. The only one that has it is my third brother's house. Can't you recognize it?"
Is this what you’re afraid of?
Seeing Yuan Yan grabbing the bone with his hands and chewing it, it was so sweet that Li Chengzhi almost vomited it out.
"The lower official has already had his breakfast when he left the house, so the lieutenant general and the guard will use it slowly..."
"It's good to use it!"
Yuan Yuan wiped his hands with a silk towel and said, "I was looking for you...Give me some pots and oil. I will give them to my father (Taiwei Yuan Jia) and the monk. Deng Ming (Yuan Yuan's two sisters) will be in each house."
Give me a pair..."
The two have very different personalities, one is cunning and treacherous, the other is loyal and gentle, but somehow they see each other right and complement each other. What are a few hot pots?
Li Chengzhi responded casually, pondered for a moment, and then said seriously: "I have a private matter that I want to ask Zhonglang for help..."
Yuan Yan had such a discerning eye that he knew at a glance that Li Chengzhi had something serious to say. He threw down his bones and waved his hands, driving all the subordinate officers and subordinates out.
"My official heard that Taiwei (Yuanjia) has several charcoal (coal) mountains in Guancheng (Zhengzhou)?"
"What do you want with so much charcoal?"
Yuan Yan was very surprised, "In midsummer, you rented King Ruyang (Yuan Yue) from the charcoal mountain in the Xiaoshan Mountain, and last month you rented King Yingchuan from the charcoal-producing place in the fiefdom (Yingchuan was Xuchang in the Northern Wei Dynasty).
The land has been rented for five years, and today I asked about Zhonglang again?"
Within Sizhou (Luoyang Gyeonggi region), these three places are the most abundant in charcoal production, and all the coal used in Beijing comes from these three places...
"You want to sell coal?"
Li Chengzhi nodded: "That's indeed the plan!"
"Can't you sell it?"
Yuan Yuan said suspiciously, "The metallurgical charcoal used by the Ministry of Gold (in charge of gold and iron smelting) and the Ministry of Industry (Ministry of Works) are all provided by the government, so they will not be purchased privately. And private casting needs are not much. And the sky is gone.
It's cold and it's not suitable for casting and smelting. Ninety percent of the work has been stopped. Who do you want to sell this coal to?"
"It is not used for smelting, but used to protect the winter..."
Royal winter?
Yuan Yan frowned: "Are you afraid that too few of the cold people in Luo Jing will die when winter comes? You think there aren't enough of them freezing to death, and you want to poison some?"
Don’t blame the Yuan Dynasty’s sarcastic remarks. It’s true that the smoke exhaust techniques in this era are almost the same. And the carbon monoxide content of coal is too high. If you are not careful, your whole family will be wiped out.
Even the emperor could only burn earth dragons or charcoal pots to keep warm in winter. Just like in the government hall at that time, he waited until the charcoal burned red and most of the smoke dissipated before he dared to move it into the hall. This would last for two or three seconds at most.
, someone will open the windows and lift the curtains to disperse the smoke.
As for coal: rich families don’t want to use it, but poor families don’t dare to use it. Apart from refining, it naturally has no use.
Seeing that there was no one else around except Yuan Yan, Li Chengzhi rolled his eyes and whispered: "I have a way to dispel the poison of smoke..."
"Teng!"
Yuan Yan stood up and almost overturned the hot pot.
No wonder Li Chengzhi couldn't wait to acquire all the Tanshan Mountains in Sizhou. It turned out that he wanted to do exclusive business?
Compared with charcoal, the price of charcoal is only 30% of that, and it can be used by small households. If there is a way to disperse smoke poison, won't people go crazy?
He stared and asked: "How is it possible?"
I know that no one dares to believe it. Otherwise, why would Yuan Yue and Yuan Yong be unwilling to cooperate and would only rent Meishan to him at a high price?
"Zhonglang treats me kindly, and the subordinates dare not deceive Zhonglang. This coal can definitely be sold. If Zhonglang feels that it is too much trouble, he can rent the coal mountain directly to the king like the king of Ruyang and Yingchuan.
"Xiaguan. If there are people available in the government, you can mine the charcoal out of the mountains and sell it to Xiaguan..."
Anyone available?
When the weather gets cold, the whole family can only keep fat, and there are not too many people available. And there are so many idle men in the capital, how many people can't be hired?
Li Chengzhi is clearly giving a favor to him...
Yuan Yuan gave him a meaningful look: "I'm interested...I will discuss with my father when I return home today, and I will return to you tomorrow at the latest..."
"Then thank you Zhonglang! In addition, I have come to ask for leave: my father will be in Beijing soon, and he will definitely visit relatives and friends. As the son of a man, he naturally has to accompany him. It can take three to five days, or one or two days.
In Japan, for military affairs, you can only entrust Zhonglang..."
Yuan Yan nodded and responded: "This is a matter of course, just leave!"
Li Chengzhi thanked and said goodbye. After leaving for a while, Yuan Yuan sighed softly: "It is widely said that Li Chengzhi is too sharp, reckless and unwise, and has made countless enemies, but what about now?"
Gao Zhao does not care.
Yuan Yue is selling tofu with him, Yuan Chen is selling hot pot with him. Yuan Yi is selling refined salt with him, Yu Zhong's nephew is running Lelou with him, and now Yuan Yong and himself will sell charcoal with him.
/p>
Even Liu Teng's adopted son had a common career with him... There was a little power in the court, but among those who were regarded as confidants by the emperor, who would not have any interests in him?
Nowadays, do you still think that Li Chengzhi is a sycophant and a charming person?
Both the government and the public are full of words of praise.
Not to mention how clear-minded Li Chengzhi is and how clever his skills are. Anyone who is not stupid can think of how to deal with things like this.
However, no one has as many ways to make money as he does, and this is the key...
He sighed again and saw that Yuan Yan didn't answer. Yuan Yuan looked up and saw Yuan Yan's eyes rolling around, as if he was planning something.
Then suddenly I saw him holding his stomach with both hands, his facial features wrinkled, and he seemed to be in extreme pain: "Zhonglang, my subordinate suddenly feels unwell and needs to take half a day off..."
Nonsense, you were fine just now?
I suddenly heard that Li Chengzhi asked for leave. Do you want to ask for leave too?
Yuan Yuan's heart moved and he sneered.
As expected, this bastard should be going to inform Gao Zhao that Li Chengzhi’s father, Li Shixian, is coming to Beijing...
"Get out!"
After his thoughts were revealed, Yuan Yan smiled and bowed hastily: "Thank you, Zhonglang!"
……
As luck would have it, before Li Chengzhi even left Jinyong City, he was blocked by the Yellow Gate who came to deliver an edict: The emperor summoned him to see him.
Yuan Ke was frail and sick, and what he feared most was winter. Every year when the weather got cold, he felt that his end was approaching.
As soon as there were too many braziers in the hall, Yuan Ke was coughing and out of breath. Liu Teng hurriedly ordered Huangmen to remove a few charcoal pots, and opened the doors and windows to disperse the smoke.
After a while, Yuan Ke stopped coughing, but kept shaking. It was as if he was not wrapped in a fur quilt, but several bows were hung, and the bow strings were playing non-stop.
His face was as gray as dirt, almost bloodless. If he took a closer look, there seemed to be many more yellow spots in his eyes.
Time is running out, right?
Calculating time, why should you live for four to five years?
In early autumn, the emperor had symptoms of hydroabdominal fluid. He even summoned him and asked him if he had any good prescription, but Li Chengzhi only said that he had no cure.
In fact, there is still one: abdominal puncture and aspiration.
But with the emperor's constitution, it would take a long time for even a scratch to heal, let alone a hole in his stomach?
What if you are infected...
Li Chengzhi bowed his hands and said, "I respectfully send you my regards..."
"You...you rebellious minister...didn't you forget that you are also the servant of the martial arts? I didn't call you, but you didn't know how to come to the palace to serve me?"
I just came here three days ago, okay?
Seeing the emperor's upper and lower teeth chattering, Li Chengzhi lazily argued with him and said perfunctorily: "It's my fault..."
The emperor asked again: "Where is the 'iron furnace' that was played in the article? Have you forgotten it?"
So that’s what it’s for?
Whether Li Song can have a good year this year depends entirely on this. How could Li Chengzhi forget it?
It’s true that the snow fell so suddenly. The sun was still shining brightly two days ago, and young ladies with exposed arms could be seen everywhere on the street, but the heavy snow came just at a moment’s notice?
Calculating the time, there are still about ten days until the beginning of winter...
"How could I forget? The iron furnace has been forged, and I'm just waiting for His Majesty's edict!"
"Why don't you send someone to get it quickly?"
The emperor wrapped himself tightly in the quilt and said, "If you can solve the problem of this bitter cold, I will count it as a great achievement of yours..."
Yuan Ke really wasn’t just saying what he said: if he could survive this winter, he would be able to live for one more year and be worthy of his rescue.
"Your Majesty, wait a moment, I will arrange it today..."
In reply, Li Chengzhi invited Liu Teng again, "I also want the temple minister to help me!"
After leaving the main hall, Liu Teng began to complain about him: "Others are racking their brains to serve His Majesty but are unable to do so. What's better for you, you are responsible for serving as the minister, but you haven't seen anyone for three to five days? No matter how busy you are with military affairs, you can still do it.
Is it more serious than your Majesty’s health?”
When I revolve around the emperor every day, where do I find the time to make money?
Li Chengzhi did not argue and said with a smile: "What the temple minister mentioned is..."
After missing a few strong men, Yu Lin went to Li Chengzhi's house to get the iron stove, and Liu Teng took Li Chengzhi to the Shiqian West Hall.
This is the emperor's daily office and also Yuan Ke's bedroom.
Only three to five days after Li Chengzhi's submission was submitted, Liu Teng had already demolished the west hall to pieces. The ground was filled with stone pillars, stone slabs, as well as wheat straw, clay and other objects.
These were all prepared according to Li Chengzhi's request, and it was actually very simple: Li Chengzhi was going to make a fire bed for the emperor.
It seems that this thing was only seen in the Northeast in the middle and late Tang Dynasty. Li Chengzhi also couldn't figure it out. Since the earth dragon (underground kang) has been around since the Han Dynasty, why didn't he know how to build the kang higher and directly on the ground? p>
There are naturally earth dragons in the palace, but the palace is too big. In this era, there was no technology to hollow out the entire bottom of the palace to create an underground kang. The hole was dug small and short, less than one-fifth of the width of the palace, otherwise
It will collapse.
In addition, the foundation of the temple is extremely thick, and once the floor is heated, the heat will almost dissipate, and the effect will be almost the same as nothing.
Li Chengzhi's method is very simple. In the west hall, there are two warm pavilions facing the sun. One of them has a Kang.
Or kang: Set up a clay stove or stone stove, together with the fire kang, and place the chimney at the end of the kang. Burn coal in the stove, and when the smoke passes through the kang hole, the kang will be hot, and the heating room will naturally be hot. Or directly A fire pit with firewood stuffed in the hole.
In another warm pavilion, there is an iron stove.
This was something Li Chengzhi figured out after he couldn't sell ice. However, the technology was not up to par and he couldn't make a thin iron sheet. The chimney could only be rolled with an iron plate, so it was not only heavy but also expensive. Li Chengzhi simply added nearly Twice the price, only collecting the IQ tax from the rich.
Although the common people and poor people could not afford it, they had fire pits available, so they had no worries about selling the coal. Therefore, without waiting for the beginning of autumn, Li Chengzhi secretly collected 7788 coal from the capital. He also collected coal from around Luoyang. All of Meishan has been rented.
As for firewood... that stuff is a strategic material. Except for a few princes of Yuan Yong, Yuan Yi, and Yuan Yue, the rest are sold by the government. And as soon as winter comes, the price skyrockets, and the price of a pound of coal is that of coal. Twice that, and it’s not resistant to burning...
If you go straight through the Hualin Garden behind the palace, the palace is only three miles away from Li Chengzhi's residence, so the warriors arrived very quickly. In less than half an hour, they drove three carriages to the outside of Shiqian Palace.
Looking at the pile of scattered things, Yuan Ke said suspiciously: "This thing doesn't look big, can it really survive the winter?"
Li Chengzhi gritted his teeth: This first IQ tax will be collected from the emperor first...