Steel Dynasty - Chapter 15

[Chapter 15 Not stupid]

“Your Highness, what are these briquettes?” Wang Shijie was puzzled.

Xiao Ming showed a mysterious smile and gestured to Chen Wenlong with his eyes.

Chen Wenlong understood and sent the craftsmen outside to bring over the manufactured briquettes.

These briquettes are also called honeycomb briquettes. They are ten centimeters in the shape of a cylinder with round holes all over it. In the world where Xiao Ming lived before, this type of briquette stove was very popular before the 1970s and 1980s, and almost every household had one.

Boiling water, cooking, and heating, it can be said that it has multiple functions, is very practical, and is quite simple to make.

Faced with something that had never appeared before, Wang Shijie and the other two fell into confusion at the same time, just waiting for Xiao Ming’s next explanation.

“If you look carefully, this is a briquette stove. It is actually a cylinder, divided into two parts by an iron pestle. The upper part is the furnace, and the lower part is the air inlet. There is a damper outside. When you turn it up, more air will come in, and the fire will be strong. When you turn it down, The air intake is small and the fire is small. This briquette is made by grinding and recasting briquettes. The combination of the two will have a magical effect.”

After Xiao Ming said this, he took action by himself, took charcoal and wheat straw to start the fire, and then put a piece of briquettes. Place it on the bottom, and hold a long clay sculpture tube as a chimney to stand on top.

The four of them, Wang Shijie, stood together and whispered, focusing on Xiao Ming’s movements.

After a while, the fire became strong and the briquettes were lit. Then Xiao Ming stuffed the second briquettes into the stove and took down the small chimney.

At this time, the blue flame in the furnace was burning vigorously.

“Your Highness, this is not much different from a charcoal basin.” Sun Dong, who was always outspoken among the four, said it first.

Qin Mu rolled his eyes, knocked the fan on the palm of his hand, and said dissatisfied with Sun Dong: “Brother Sun, what you said is wrong. Since His Highness can be so interested in him, it must be something special.”

“Brother Qin is so good at flattering .

The improvement is really amazing, I think what Brother Sun said makes sense,” Wei Qing said sternly.

If Sun Dong was outspoken, then Wei Qing was a bit confused. As far as Xiao Ming knew, his father spent a lot of money to buy Wei Qing’s ability to pass the provincial examination.

As for him, he likes sticks more than poems and books.

Wang Shijie pondered for a while and showed contempt for the three of them, “If you talk about your highness’s briquette stove, you three can’t understand it better than I do. This kind of briquette stove, your highness said, is really practical and is better than a charcoal basin.” It’s much more convenient.”

“Brother Wang has some insights, as he is in the coal and iron business,” Xiao Ming praised.

Wang Shijie has always been a person who lays eggs in a broken basket. He was as proud as a rooster after winning a battle. “Your Highness, this thing is really good. I wonder where your Highness learned this thing?”

Xiao Ming said lightly: “It’s been a long time talking about this. A few days ago, the housekeeper of the palace bought a book from an overseas businessman. I saw that there were many novel items in it, so I studied it carefully.”

At this time, Xiao Ming’s identity It was the prince’s advantage that came through. He only needed to make up any excuses to shirk away the equipment to be developed in the future.

If it were ordinary people, these wealthy families would probably have to figure out how to kill people and silence them.

Wang Shijie was dubious, but when Xiao Ming said this, he didn’t dare to ask in detail. After all, it was one thing for them to get along well with Xiao Ming, but their dignity was another matter.

“Your Highness is really a noble man. This briquette stove is indeed good. Can your Highness ask the Equipment Department to build one for us?”

Wang Shijie, Qin Mu and others exchanged glances. This briquette stove is quite novel, and they really want to Buy it back and try it out.

Xiao Ming was waiting for the fish to take the bait. It is impossible for this briquette stove to be popularized in ordinary people’s homes now, because ordinary people cannot afford to burn coal and can only burn some firewood and the like.

But it is different for wealthy families. The psychology of any wealthy family is the same, that is, they like to hunt for novelties.

“It’s not impossible, it’s just that this briquette stove consumes both iron and coal. I, Prince Qi, have always been very poor…”

Wang Shijie, a man of spirit, immediately understood, “Your Highness, please tell me, how much does this briquette stove cost?” We’ll give it a piece of silver.”

Qin Mu and the others nodded, they didn’t dare to take advantage of Xiao Ming, since Xiao Ming was also the vassal king after all.

“Let’s see, a briquette stove has fifty taels of silver.” Xiao Mingshi said loudly.

Wang Shijie was shocked, King Qi really dared to ask for it.

In his opinion, although this briquette stove is much more convenient than the charcoal basin, it is not irreplaceable. At most it is a lot more convenient. It is not worth so much money, and at most it is only three taels of silver.

He said: “Your Highness, fifty taels is really a lot. Think about it, who in a wealthy family doesn’t have a servant? It’s a bit troublesome to boil water, cook, and warm wine, but after all, you don’t need to do it yourself. Buy this for fifty taels.” , it’s better to buy a maid, so don’t make things difficult for me.”

Qin Mu and the others nodded at the same time, and Sun Dong said, “But Brother Wang reminded me that this briquette stove is a business, and you can sell it to some hands. A rich man who has a lot of money but can’t afford to support a maid.”

Xiao Ming glanced at the four people and thought to himself, it seems that the ancients were not stupid, and they were very careful with their calculations, and they could not just make a lot of money by just making things.

The first round of deception failed, so Xiao Ming called Chen Wenlong to ask about the cost of the briquette stove.

Wang Shijie’s estimate was very accurate. The cost was basically around two taels of silver. After all, coal and iron were still very expensive.

The scapegoat was nowhere to be found, but Sun Dong’s proposal was feasible. He made this briquette stove just to make money.

Otherwise, where would he get the money to build up the industrial base? He couldn’t confiscate all the wealthy households in Qingzhou, right?

“Brother Sun is still smart.” Xiao Ming praised.

At this time, Qin Mu had an idea and said, “Your Highness, my family is in the water transportation business. We go to all parts of the Chongqing Kingdom. Why don’t you give me the briquette stove business and let me sell it?”

“This is true. Brother Qin is the most suitable,” Wei Qing said.

“Brother Qin’s words are exactly what I want. You all also understand that Qingzhou’s tax revenue is not as good as the previous year. If this continues, Prince Qi’s Mansion will soon be in trouble. Although you often help the Prince’s Mansion, it is not the case after all. Long-term plan.” Xiao Ming said with a long sigh.

At this time, all four of them looked embarrassed. Naturally, they knew the crux of the tax issue.

It’s just that none of the wealthy families in Dayu Kingdom hold money in their own hands.

Now that the King of Qi wants to do his own business to supplement the palace, it is understandable. Which of the princes does not have a group of merchants under his command?

These merchants offered silver taels every year in exchange for business convenience, and some highly profitable businesses were even directly run by the prince’s cronies.

Similarly, they also offer some silver coins to the King of Qi every year, but the King of Qi is really stupid and incompetent, and these silver coins are only used for enjoyment.

Even the mines that other princes held tightly in their hands were ignored by water transportation.

(End of chapter)