The structure of the flush toilet is very simple. In the 16th century, Englishman John Harrington invented the flush toilet. In 1775, a London clockmaker named Alexander Cumming improved Harrington's design, invented a valve device, developed a flush toilet, and obtained the first patent.
As the city owner of Tianjing New City, Yang Peng thought about many plans and finally figured out the structure of the flush toilet. For Yang Peng, drawing the structural diagram of a flush toilet is very simple.
The water tank switch of the toilet is very simple. With the design drawing drawn by Yang Peng, you can basically find a qualified coppersmith to do it. Although there is no plastic in this era, the use of copper can replace plastic.
The ceramic bowl of the toilet is not difficult to install. In this era, the Song Dynasty could already produce all kinds of exquisite porcelain, and firing toilet barrels was also a piece of cake. Yang Peng found Cai Huaishui, Minister of Industry, and gave him the design drawings, asking him to find several reliable porcelain craftsmen to make the barrel body.
There were local porcelain makers in Cangzhou, and it only took Cai Huaishui seven days to find someone to make three barrels. Yang Peng dug a pit in the glass workshop, assembled the burned toilet barrel and the copper mechanism made by the coppersmith and placed it on the pit. The first flush toilet in the Song Dynasty was born. Yang Peng threw a few wads of waste paper into the toilet. When he pressed the flush button, the wads of paper were flushed into the puddle under the toilet.
Although there was no running water in this era, well water was easily available. There is one well dug for every ten villas in Tianjing New City. Before using the toilet, the user needs to pick up a bucket of water and pour it into the ceramic bucket on the upper part of the toilet. Because manual water filling is used, the float ball in the toilet tank is no longer needed. This float is the most complex part of the entire toilet technology. Not producing a float can save a lot of costs.
For flush toilets, the fixation of the toilet is very important, and the pipes must be aligned and fixed. The cement produced by Yang Peng was put to use at this time. As long as the toilet bowl is fixed with cement in the toilet, there will be no problem of the toilet bowl moving out of place and becoming unusable.
After mass production of this new type of toilet, priority will be given to selling it to the people of Tianjing New City. Yang Peng also arranged for people to install new toilets in the palace. Yang Tong, Zhao Jinxi, and Ye Qi Hanyu looked at the installation team strangely, while the other group of people went to the mansions of Ye Qi Guanyin and Zhao Lihua to install the new toilets.
There are septic tanks dug under the villas in Tianjing New City, and there is no need to modify the sewers to install flush toilets. Yang Peng gave preferential prices to the people of Tianjing New City: as long as they hold the waistband of a Tianjing New City resident to buy a flush toilet, the price is as low as two taels. This price also includes installation fees and cement material fees. As long as you pay two taels of silver and make an appointment, the construction team will come to install flush toilets for residents.
This is basically the cost price. Yang Peng hopes to use flush toilets to improve the sanitary conditions of Tianjing New City, and he does not expect this new thing to make much money for himself. In fact, for the residents of Tianjing New City, installing toilets can not only eliminate the stench of the toilets, but also allow the common people to have an extra small room - there was a special toilet in the Fanjiazhuang villa designed by Yang Peng in the past. A bathhouse. Now that toilets are installed with flush toilets, toilets are no longer dirty or smelly. People can create a bathing space in the toilet, and the vacant bathhouse can be used as a small room.
Spending two taels of silver can not only improve the sanitary conditions, but also free up a small room. This is a very cost-effective deal. The original bathroom can be used to store sundries and can also be used as a children's bedroom.
After Yang Peng installed the toilet for Huan Lide, the Huan family immediately got rid of the stench of the toilet and had an extra room. After the people of Sanheng Street, where the Huan family is located, visited the Huan family's new toilet, they immediately spread the benefits of it. People in Tianjing New City rushed to the toilet store in Fanjiazhuang to pay and make reservations. Within a few days, almost all the people in Tianjing New City had registered to purchase.
The situation of residential houses in other places in Cangzhou is different. Most of the houses in Cangzhou do not have septic tanks. To install a flush toilet, septic tanks must be dug temporarily, which is a huge amount of work. Without seven or eighty taels of civil engineering wages, this flush toilet would not be usable. Therefore, in Cangzhou Acropolis and other prefectures and counties, flush toilets have not yet become popular.
But Yang Peng believed that with the example of the people in Tianjing New City, people in the Ming Dynasty who like to follow the trend of new things, especially the wealthy people among them, will gradually install flush toilets.
Yang Peng is no longer prepared to keep this kind of toilet a secret. It is too easy to copy this thing. Unless the entire Song Dynasty has a patent system to protect Yang Peng’s intellectual property rights, Yang Peng will not be able to stop the counterfeiters at all. Moreover, Yang Peng's demeanor as the King of Yan is no better than before. Yang Peng hoped that craftsmen from other places would learn this new type of toilet as soon as possible. He hoped that people in the Song Dynasty would use this type of flush toilet to improve their living and sanitary conditions.
Zhao Heng, an official of the Song Dynasty, stood in the newly built "bathroom" in the Qianqing Palace, marveling at the toilet installed in the bathroom that was paid tribute by Yang Peng. The bathroom in Qianqing Palace is very large and impressive. A few days ago, Yang Peng sent craftsmen from Cangzhou to dig a septic tank behind Qianqing Palace. After the septic tank was dug, the craftsmen sealed it with cement, leaving only a chimney made of white marble slabs for exhaust. In the Qianqing Palace, craftsmen built a wall with cement and installed a flush toilet to create a toilet.
According to Yang Peng, this toilet with a flush toilet is clean and hygienic and should be called a "restroom". Zhao Heng guessed that this meant washing his hands after taking out Gong, so he called the toilet the bathroom.
There was originally no toilet in the Qianqing Palace. The toilets used by officials are called "official rooms" and are kept by special eunuchs. When necessary, they are transferred to the "official rooms" and are not kept in the palace at ordinary times. Compared with Yang Peng's flush toilet, the original "official room" seemed unhygienic and inconvenient.
Zhao Heng looked at the bathroom in the Qianqing Palace with joy and said with a smile: "I won't have to use the embarrassing 'official room' anymore." Zhao Heng found a piece of waste paper, crumpled it into a ball and threw it into the toilet. As soon as he pressed the button on the toilet sink, he saw well water pouring from the sink into the toilet, wrapping the paper and flushing it away.
Zhao Heng smiled and said: "Okay, it really works! With a bathroom like this, I don't need anyone else to take care of my private matters, and the embarrassment in it is gone. It's really a good thing."
Wang Jin blinked and asked: "Your Majesty, how did King Yan invent so many new things? Where did he learn it? Even if Lu Ban comes back, I'm afraid he won't be able to match the skillful craftsmen of King Yan." Zhao Heng said, stroking his beard. : "I don't know why King Yan can invent so many new things. But I know that King Yan is loyal. A good thing like a flush toilet is clean and hygienic. Yang Peng was the first to think of installing it for me. His loyalty can be seen. "
Wang Jin cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, the Holy Ming." Zhao Heng stroked his beard and said, "Ask King Yan's craftsmen not to leave. I won't be polite to King Yan and ask him to decorate the palaces of the prince, princess, queen mother and princess." Use the restroom. There are two princesses who need to install restrooms!"
In Heshan Township, Ningyang County, Shandong Province, dark clouds rolled in the sky. The people of Heshan Township looked eagerly at the dark clouds in the sky, hoping that these dark clouds would bring some rain to Heshan Township.
It has not rained in Ningyang County for three months. Without rain, crops cannot survive. Just carrying water from rivers and wells for irrigation will not save the crops. The rice in the field has turned yellow due to lack of water. If it doesn't rain within half a month, there will be no harvest this year.
If there is no harvest, there will be no food to eat next year, and we will have to flee the famine. There was a severe drought in Shandong in the sixth year of Xianping. At that time, several counties in Shandong were so hungry that their population was greatly reduced, and some people even exchanged children for cannibalism. Unexpectedly, we finally survived that severe drought. Just two years ago, Ningyang County was hit by another severe drought.
This drought lasted for three months and lasted for three months. How many people will starve to death in Ningyang County this time? Liu Jiangui, a farmer from Heshan Township, looked helplessly at the dark clouds in the sky and was so nervous that he could not speak. Liu Jiangui is actually very tired now. He spent the whole night carrying water to irrigate his fields last night, carrying water from the Dawen River to irrigate his own fields.
The Dawen River is also almost dry. There is only a little water flowing in the middle of the river bed, which looks like a small stream. It is not easy to climb from the river bank to carry water under the river bed. Liu Jiangui fell while walking yesterday. When he fell, he scraped on the ground and suffered a big cut on his arm.
However, even with such hard work, I am afraid it can only alleviate the gradual drying up of the rice. The Dawen River is three miles away from his field, and he can only carry two buckets of water at a time. After walking back and forth twenty times, he barely watered more than ten acres of rice. If you want to obtain a subsistence harvest, such irrigation is far from enough.
Liu Jiangui didn't dare to rest during the day. After sleeping for an hour, he got up again and prepared to fetch water. Liu Jiangui's crops are relatively close to the Dawen River, and he can get water with a little more effort. What about the fields far away from the river?
There were a few men in the village who liked to go to the town to listen to the "Dali Temple Bulletin". Liu Jiangui heard from them that there was a severe drought in Shandong. The crops in many places have all withered. Not only is there a drought, there is also a locust plague in Qingzhou and Laizhou. The locusts are overwhelming and even the dry crops are not spared.
Liu Jiangui looked at the dark clouds in the sky helplessly, secretly thinking that only if God rained down can the people of Shandong be saved. Suddenly, the second son of the Huang family next door ran over and shouted at the door of Liu Jiangui's yard: "Liu Jiangui, go to the Dragon King Temple quickly. Master He has put out sacrifices to pray for rain!"
Master He asked for rain? Liu Jiangui was overjoyed when he heard this, dropped his pole and ran to the outside of the Dragon King Temple by the river. When he got there, Liu Jiangui found that hundreds of people had gathered outside the Dragon King Temple. The farmers in ragged clothes knelt on the ground and kowtowed to the statues in the Dragon King Temple.
He Yuanwai, the largest landowner in Heshan Township, placed a pig's head, chicken and duck sacrifices on the sacred table of the Dragon King Temple, and was offering incense to the Dragon King.
Liu Jiangui also walked in and knelt behind the villagers. He Yuanwai was burning incense and shouting loudly: "Yanwang Yangpeng caused trouble in Shandong and manipulated public opinion, angering God, and finally led to a severe drought. However, we and other people are all innocent, and we are definitely not members of Li's bandits. Please show mercy to the Dragon King." The people of Heshan Township showed their spiritual power and sent a rain to protect us, the people of Heshan Township, from famine in the coming year."
Liu Jiangui was stunned when he heard He Yuanwai's words, and secretly thought, what does this severe drought have to do with King Yan? He Yuanwai hated Yang Peng to the core and blamed the drought on King Yan. However, the people were eager to pray for rain at this time and respected He Yuanwai who paid for rain. No one came out to refute He Yuanwai. He Yuanwai chanted for a while in front of the sacred case, knelt down and kowtowed, and inserted three sticks of incense into the incense burner.
As soon as He Yuanwai put on the incense, there was a roar of thunder outside the temple.
It's thundering? It is going to rain? The people in the temple became excited and looked at He Yuanwai in front of the divine case. He Yuanwai had a clever idea and knelt down in front of the divine case and shouted loudly: "The Dragon King has a spirit! If the Dragon King hates Thief Li, he can bring disaster to Tianjing New City. We, the people of Shandong, are by no means members of Yan Wang Yang Peng's party. I hope the Dragon King will send down the rain to save our people."
After He Yuanwai said this, he kept kowtowing to the Dragon King statue. The people kneeling inside and outside the Dragon King Temple also followed He Yuanwai and kowtowed vigorously to the statue. As if he was very disappointed with He Yuanwai's words, the rolling thunder suddenly stopped. No matter how devoutly everyone knelt, the thunder never sounded again. Liu Jiangui looked up at the sky, only to see that the dark clouds were getting lighter and lighter, and gradually split. A beam of desperate sunshine pierced the scattered dark clouds and fell on the dry earth.
Liu Jiangui was greatly frustrated and fell to the ground helplessly. There is no harvest this year and we will starve to death next year. The "Dali Temple Bulletin" said that Henan is also experiencing a severe drought this year, and the harvest in South Zhili is also not good. Even if you go out to escape, I'm afraid you will have a narrow escape from death, or you may die in a foreign country.
That beam of sunshine broke the illusions of many people. The people looked at the sky in despair, and they were all dumbfounded and speechless. After a while, some people hugged each other and started crying.
Liu Jiangui sighed and was about to get up when he suddenly saw a panicked young man running in the distance. "It's bad! The Dawen River has stopped flowing! The Dawen River has dried up!"
It's over. Liu Jiangui felt as if someone had punched him in the chest, and he couldn't react for a long time. He only felt a little difficult to breathe, and suddenly his vision went dark and he fainted.
"There was a severe drought in Shandong in March, and the land was bare for thousands of miles. All the people's crops have dried up, and next year's rations may have been lost. Locusts covered the sky in Qingzhou, Dengzhou and Laizhou, leaving no grass behind..."
At this time, all Yang Peng's important subordinates were seated. Yang Peng nodded towards Yeli Hanyu, who stood up and said: "The official sent an imperial edict yesterday, saying that there was a severe drought in Shandong, and we asked our Tianjing New City to contribute to disaster relief. This matter The stakes are very high, let’s discuss how we should respond!”
Everyone was a little surprised when they heard this. Everyone knows about the severe drought in Shandong. Shandong has been dry for three months. Except for a light rain in Dengzhou and Laizhou, it can be said that there has not been a drop of rain in other places in Shandong during these three months. Officials in Tianjing New City have long known about Shandong's plight from the Dali Temple communiqué. They know that all crops in Shandong have been dried up this year.
This year's crops are over, and farmers will have nothing to eat next year, so disaster relief is of course needed. But this disaster relief obviously should be done by the court. How can the officials leave the burden to Tianjing New City?
Huang Guang, Yang Peng's Minister of Household Affairs, is now Yang Peng's general manager of military supplies. He is in charge of the manufacturing of various weapons and military supplies. He is also a prominent official in Tianjing New City. He knocked the dry cigarette on the tea table on the right, knocked the ashes into the ceramic vat, and said loudly: "The officials collect taxes in Shandong, but we don't collect taxes in Shandong! We in Tianjing New City run the "Tianjing New City" in Shandong. "Dali Temple Announcement", the troops stationed there did not make a penny! All the money was provided by Tianjing New City, and we could not make ends meet. No matter how we calculate this disaster relief, it is not our Tianjing New City's turn to do it!"
Cai Huaishui, Yang Peng's Minister of Industry, said: "I think this is the truth!" Cai Huaishui is now the general manager of Yang Peng's civilian supplies factory, with tens of thousands of people under his command. Over the years he had grown a goatee and carried himself with dignity. At this time, he stroked his beard and said: "Your Majesty, this can't be done. There are more than 10 million hungry people in Shandong, this is a bottomless pit. How much money does it cost to maintain a porridge shed for a year? I'm afraid 20 million taels is not enough! How can we do this? How much money?"
Everyone nodded when they heard Cai Huaishui's words. Zhan Jinguo and Zhang Xiang looked at each other, stood up and said, "King Yan, this is impossible. Not to mention that it would cost more than 20 million taels to buy one thousand shi of rice at the market price for disaster relief. Where to go?" Buying so much grain for disaster relief? If we buy 10 million shi of grain within a year, I am afraid that the price of grain across the country will skyrocket. By then, even if we have money, we will not be able to buy it."
Zhan Jinguo said loudly: "Your Majesty, the government has thrown this burden to us, we can't accept it!" Yang Peng looked at Zhan Jinguo and said calmly: "There is no need to worry about the problem of disaster relief food. This prince himself There is a way to solve it." After hearing Yang Peng's words, everyone was stunned. Relieving the hungry people in Shandong requires at least 10 million shi of food, but King Yan said it lightly.
How could King Yan raise this thousand stones of food? However, Yang Peng's methods in recent years are really unpredictable, and everyone has a blind trust in Yang Peng. As long as King Yan says it can be done, it must be done. Everyone then ignored the issue of food sources and began to discuss the benefits of disaster relief.
Cai Huaishui took a puff of dry cigarette and said: "King Yan, the officials want us to provide disaster relief. Even if we can get food, we can't do it in vain. If ten million stones of food are dropped, there will be a loud noise! We have to collect taxes in Shandong!" "
Zhang Xiang said loudly: "Cai Shangshu said it well. The government asked us to provide disaster relief. We must collect commercial taxes and equalize land taxes in Shandong, just like Tianjing New City! This way we can recover the disaster relief expenses." Han Bing said: " Your Majesty, although the civil servants in Shandong are obedient on the surface, they are still dissatisfied with us in their hearts. I think we can take this opportunity to ask the officials for the appointment power of the Xuanwei envoy in Shandong. From now on, the prince will decide who will be the envoy of Xuanwei in Shandong. , those local officials naturally became dissatisfied."
After hearing Han Bing's words, everyone fell silent. The request for appointment power of the Shandong Xuanwei envoy seems to be a bit high. If the officials agree to Yang Peng, they will completely divide the territory and turn Shandong into Yang Peng's independent kingdom. No matter how you look at it, this requirement is impossible. Han Bing looked at the silent crowd and said: "The price is high and the price is being countered on the spot. The official made such a ridiculous request for us to provide disaster relief. Of course we have to respond with some difficult conditions."
Everyone felt relieved and nodded in agreement. Zhang Xiang thought for a while and said: "Also, our troops are illegally stationed in Shandong, and the court is not recognized by the court. Now that the officials ask us to provide disaster relief, we ask the officials to appoint our eldest brother as the commander of the troops and horses in Shandong. ! In this way we can legitimately control the military and judicial affairs of Shandong."
Everyone's eyes lit up when they heard this and they all agreed. The generals and bureaucrats discussed it for a while and talked a lot. Yang Peng nodded and finally concluded: "Okay, we will agree to the official's request for disaster relief. However, we put forward four requirements: the title of Shandong admiral, commercial tax, land tax, and our appointment of Shandong Xuanwei envoy."
"If the government agrees to our four conditions, we will ensure that no one in Shandong will starve to death." Xie Liangyou said: "Disaster relief requires at least 10 million shi of grain. Such a large-scale purchase of grain will definitely increase grain prices in various places. After all, we can’t save Shandong Province without 30 million taels of silver. If we want to rely on commercial taxes to recover the capital, it will take more than ten years.”
Everyone fell silent when they heard this. Now Yang Peng only has a little over 10 million taels of silver in his bank account, and he cannot raise 30 million taels of silver to buy food for disaster relief. In everyone's mind, this disaster relief task was an impossible one, and they didn't know what Yang Peng was going to do.
Yang Peng said lightly: "I think this disaster relief, as long as we think of some ways to do it, it won't cost much money. Those gentry and landlords have a lot of money but are unwilling to provide disaster relief. Let's think of a way to make them bleed!"
Everyone looked at Yang Peng, but they didn't know how Yang Peng planned to make the gentry bleed. Yang Peng smiled and said: "But first we must prepare the food for disaster relief. Cui Changwu, you come with me, and we will write a formal order to Zheng Hui in Hsinchu."
"The amount of ten million shi is too huge. In order not to cause large fluctuations in the supply and demand of grain prices in various places, King Yan plans to purchase grain in batches in various places and use fleets to transport it. In North Zhili, he bought 2 million shi. In South Zhili, he bought grain Li bought four million shi. In Zhejiang he bought two million shi, and in Fujian and Guangdong he bought one million shi each."
Finally, the "Dali Temple Announcement" once again emphasized the importance of sincere cooperation, emphasizing that as long as the gentry in the world did not drive up the price of rice, King Yan would be able to successfully relieve Shandong.
After Zhang Keli read the announcement from Dali Temple, he snorted coldly and slapped the newspaper on the tea table. He looked at his eldest son and asked, "It seems that Yang Peng really wants to buy 10 million stones of grain for disaster relief." Zhang Keli's eldest son nodded and said, "Father, this is not wrong. If he doesn't buy grain, what kind of disaster relief will he use? For For this disaster relief matter, the officials have given Yang Peng the official position of Shandong Military and Horse Supervisor, and have also allowed Yang Peng to collect commercial taxes in Shandong in the future. Yang Peng's reply to the officials has also been made public. Yang Peng was very happy with the officials. We were given official positions and tax rights by our families, and we were determined to spend money on disaster relief, saying, 'We will never let anyone in Shandong starve to death'!"
"Yang Peng is using the disaster relief this time to actually control Shandong Province. This time the officials and Yang Peng are purely making a deal. If Yang Peng cannot successfully purchase enough grain to feed the drought-stricken Shandong, the officials will definitely give it to him. If the official title is taken back, Yang Peng will certainly not be allowed to levy commercial taxes."
"So Yang Peng is going all out this time and will definitely buy food with all his strength. Father, if you look at the wording in the "Dali Temple Announcement", he is almost begging the gentry in the world. He also knows that if the gentry in the world do not cooperate, he will lose more than 30 million taels. Silver cannot buy ten million stones of grain."
Zhang Keli's eldest son paused and then said: "Father, the population of South Zhili is more than 20 million, and the surplus grain in the market of South Zhili is only a few million dan. Yang Peng came to buy 4 million dan at once, almost How can it be so easy to buy Kongnan Zhili?"
"As long as we work a little bit, we can drive the price of food to the sky. Not only will Yang Peng be forced to hand over all his money, but he will also be unable to get enough food for disaster relief. When the time comes, he will spend all his money and be imprisoned. Wouldn’t it be a good thing if the family takes back their official positions and tax rights?”
Zhang Keli thought for a while and said: "This seems to be the case. But I always feel that there is something strange... Yang Peng is not stupid. He buys grain with such a big fanfare. Isn't he afraid that the gentry in the world will raise the price of grain and make things difficult for him? ."
Zhang Keli's eldest son smiled and said: "Father, Yang Peng is really out of his mind this time. He thought that he was doing a good deed by paying for disaster relief, and everyone in the world would cooperate with him. But he didn't know that the world's scholars and gentry I hate him to the core, even if I get a bad name, I will bring Yang Peng down."
What happened after all, let’s see what happens next.
