Liu Xicai sent the prince of Fengning County to the Ten Kings Pavilion. The next day, the emperor called him into the palace and asked him in detail about his contacts with Li Dan and Qingshan Team during this period and Anren's recovery.
The panoramic view of Anren Bridge hung on the emperor's wall, and he was filled with emotion when listening to Liu Xi's introduction.
Hearing that Yu Gan was planning the White Horse Bridge across the East River, the emperor was surprised and asked about the required costs and merchant donations. He couldn't calm down for a long time.
The next day Liu Xi went south again with the emperor's will. What he brought to Li Dan was not only news about honors and rewards.
When the two took a walk together after dinner, he quietly told Li Dan about Hong Danian's impeachment. Li Dan was stunned: "Impeach me? But I'm only at the sixth level?"
"Isn't it incredible?" Liu Xi pursed his lips and smiled: "I thought so too when I heard about it. The emperor said that you should not take it too seriously.
His Majesty said that this matter was directed at him. Someone wanted to use this to prove that His Majesty was young, did not know how to recognize people, and lacked ability. He said, I believe you will not act so recklessly, but it may make you suffer some injustice, so please be mentally prepared, Sanlang. "
"It doesn't matter, my work is worthy of heaven and earth. Please tell your majesty, I believe that your majesty will make the decision for me, and the day will come to light."
Li Dan had the knowledge of five thousand years of history in his previous life, and he quickly saw the emperor's intention to kill two birds with one stone, but he didn't care.
During this period, Li Dan had changed his thinking. He began to regard the group training as the actual training base of the Qingshirt Team. The backbones of the Qingshirt Team who came out of the group training were placed in various industries, which played a role in hiding troops from the people.
As long as the Chashan Society calls, it is not difficult to quickly recall thousands of capable warriors, so there is no need to cling to the regiment training. What's more, you will have to take the imperial examination in the future. After all, to govern the country with civilian officials, you must gradually dilute your image of a "martial warrior" in the minds of others.
Liu Xi nodded and asked with a little worry: "Although your Excellency said this, I still have to ask for Your Majesty, what they said about hiding the deserted troops and shielding the bandit leaders...?"
"I don't know where the word "deserted army" comes from? There are indeed officers and soldiers from the government and the army in our team. They come to the team training to train and improve their combat effectiveness.
The waiter also knew that the Green Shirt Team had only been established for a short period of time. They were ordinary people before, but now they would not be able to fight against the rebels without the guidance of the official army.
All these matters were reported to the governor and his consent was obtained. And there are many government and military officers who hold important positions in regiment training.
For example, Yu Gan guarded Yang Dayi, the first battalion commander Dong Houyong, the weapons director Song Qian and others. Group training can help the officers and soldiers win every battle, and it is inseparable from the contributions of the officers and soldiers serving here!
The charge of harboring the bandit leader is even more ridiculous. I don’t know if the leaders who have humbled themselves and surrendered are the people they mentioned? There are many people in the team training who took the wrong path and then regretted it and returned to serving the imperial court!
For example, Lai Wufa, commander of the second battalion, Liao Hanqing, deputy commander of the third battalion, Gao Hanzi, commander of the fourth battalion, and Zhengshi, the commander of the Chinese army. These people once commanded troops ranging from hundreds to thousands in the rebel army, and now they are struggling to move forward with only a hundred subordinates to atone for their sins!
The last time I went in and out of Shangrao to pick up the crown prince, many people were injured. I felt that those who still regarded them as "bandit leaders" were too narrow-minded? What's more, the retention, appointment and humble positions of these people were not concealed and were all reported. "
Liu Xi listened and memorized it in his mind, nodding slightly. "Then my lord, can you guarantee that there are no omissions?"
"Except for those situations where decisions were made at the last moment on the battlefield and had to be reported to the governor afterwards, there is absolutely no behavior that involves deceiving one's superiors."
"Then I'm relieved!" Liu Xi nodded, then remembered what the emperor had sent him before leaving, and quickly slapped his forehead: "I almost forgot one of your Majesty's important things!"
"What's the matter?" Li Dan was startled by him and asked quickly.
"Your Majesty currently has a huge problem. He wants me to ask you if you have a solution?"
"Your Majesty, please tell me."
"Due to the heavy rain this year, Shangjing is now short of fuel."
"Oh, I heard this matter from a guest from the south before.
However, isn’t there coal (coal) available in the Suizhou Mountains? I heard that there seems to be mining as well. "
"Although pebbles are good, few people dare to use them," Liu Xi said.
Li Dan immediately understood the reason and said with a smile: "I know the reason for my humble position. When I return to the Anren Hall tomorrow, I will see one thing. It was just ordered by my order. Currently, there are only Yingxian Hall and the regiment training headquarters (staff office). Using.
That thing should be able to solve Shang Jing's needs. When I returned to Yugan, I first went to the Chamber of Commerce and asked them to prepare sufficient supplies and send manpower northward to try to solve the urgent needs of Shangjing this winter as soon as possible. "
He didn't say what it was, but Liu Xicai guessed it must be related to heating. When he returned to Anren's Yingxian Hall the next day, he found that a platform had been built with blue bricks in the house, and then built up along the wall to a height of three feet.
On the table is a barrel-like thing with a metallic luster, which is very hot. There is a iron kettle on top of it that is steaming. There is a cylindrical pipe made of rolled iron extending along the wall to the outdoors.
"What is this?" He circled around curiously, but immediately felt his body getting warm. A servant came forward to help him untie his belt, take off his cloak, and replied with a smile:
"Mr. Liu, this thing is called a coal stove. It is used to burn coal cakes. Put a pot on it so that the room will be moist and not dry. Oh, Li Sanlang asked the iron factory to cast it.
There are a total of nine finished products in this batch, five of which are given to the courtyard, three are at the headquarters, and the other is in the county government lobby. I heard that there will be a new batch of goods tomorrow, mainly for military medical clinics, county schools, nursing homes and Jigufang in this county... "
"Wait a minute, what are the coal cakes you're talking about and where are they?"
"Sir, please wait a moment." The servant turned and walked out. After a while, a dark object was brought in with a piece of cloth and placed on the blue brick platform. "Look, sir, this is coal cake.
It is made of crushed coal, lime and soil. The first-class briquettes for you gentlemen are filled with ground spices such as lychee shells. They smell good and are easy to use.
There are plum blossom holes on this briquette. When used, it can be used to guide the flame up by aligning it with the piece below, which is very convenient. "
"Oh, so this is the good thing Li Sanlang told me?" Liu Xixiang asked, "How long can this piece of coal cake be burned?"
"It depends on the size of the house. If this house only needs one piece per night, it can be burned until dawn." After finishing speaking, the servant sighed enviously: "Whenever it can be used in my house, that would be great!"
"Is this expensive?" Liu Xi asked quickly.
"It's not expensive." The servant shook his head: "When we heard about the price of the stove, we all set the price based on the price of charcoal in the past, but the Lord rejected it. In the end, the small stove was priced at two denarii, like the big stove in your house. It costs two cents and seven cents of silver.
This coal cake costs three yuan a piece. If you use three yuan a day, it will cost you about the same amount over the winter, which is not bad. "
Can you survive the winter with just a little money? Liu Xi was stunned. but……? "But I heard people say that this charcoal cannot be used for a long time, and it will be poisonous if used for a long time, so there are very few people in the capital who use it for heating. Most of them are used in restaurants to replace firewood."
Liu Xi looked at the stove and asked, "Is this what the pipes are for?"
"The master is really a very smart man. You can tell at a glance." The servant flattered:
"This tube is for detoxification, and do you see the neck brace on the outside? This is to prevent the wind from blowing back. With this, the poisonous gas can be discharged smoothly, without any hindrance!"
The more Liu Xi looked at this thing in the room, the happier he became. Countless questions came to his mind to ask Li Dan.
After a hard night and fully realizing the wonderful use of the stove, Liu Xi and his entourage hurried to the county government office the next day. County Magistrate Zhou went to inspect the maintenance of the county school and the Dongjia City wall project, but it was Li Zhu who was in the government office. .
Knowing that he was the emperor's envoy, he naturally did not dare to neglect him and hurriedly came out to greet him. Liu Xi had already recognized him, waved his hand and said, "Let's not talk nonsense. Our family has important matters. We must go to Yingtan to see Sanlang immediately. Please ask Dalang to find a boat. I will leave immediately!"
"There's no need to be in a hurry." Li Zhu smiled and said, "Just wait a moment, my younger brother will be passing by Anren when he returns to Yugan today to get married."
Liu Xi chuckled and said, "No wonder he said something about Yu Qian at that time. It turned out that he had something great.
thing! Forget it, I will wait for him to come and walk together, and chat with him slowly on the way! "
What does he want to talk about? It turned out that Liu Xi sat in the room and calculated, how many such stoves would be needed for the hundreds of thousands of households in Shangjing City?
He also thought that when Li Dan said that he wanted the merchant group to send people northward, he clearly meant to open a shop in the capital. Liu Xi immediately became interested and hurriedly approached Li Dan about this matter.
Zhao Chongbi did not stop after meeting Shi Hao and returned almost immediately. He immediately went to Li Dan to tell someone about the impeachment, but seeing that he was not panicked or surprised at all, Zhao Chongbi understood it after thinking about it.
"Could it be that Liu Xi has already told you?" he asked Li Dan.
"Your Excellency, you can guess correctly. He told me last night." Li Dan replied with a smile.
"Then what do you think?"
"Xiao Liu and I told him that we believe in His Majesty's fairness." Li Dan said with cupped hands: "Everything I do in my humble position has been reported to you, and I have absolutely nothing to hide. Some officers and soldiers stay in the regiment to improve their combat effectiveness and assist in training. , no one can say anything about this.
As for submission, let alone the use of the leader anyway. The so-called cover-up is completely slanderous. When those people said this, they just wanted to say that they were in a humble position because they were young and had no reputation, so Your Majesty should not be allowed to be in the sixth rank. "
"How do you plan to respond?" Zhao Chongbi asked.
"The reason for joining the group training because of my humble position is to protect the food transport team from bandits, and not for any selfish reasons. I didn't have time when I was out, so I hurriedly made up for some homework in the past few days. Fortunately, Master Lou (Lou Liang) Never blamed.
Please forgive me, your Majesty. After Guangxin is settled, Li Dan will concentrate on his studies and prepare to take the scientific examination. "
"Are you going to resign?" Zhao Chongbi was shocked.
"I can't walk into the examination room with two military positions, can I?" Li Dan smiled bitterly. Officials cannot take the examination. This is the rule of the imperial examination. Li Dan used this reason to resign openly.
Zhao Chongbi thought about it, and he also heard some meaning from Shi Hao's words. Shi Hao had a good impression of Li Dan, but he received the emperor's decree and letter, which had very different meanings.
In the letter, the emperor did not blame him for his strange way of reporting to Hong Danian through the Ministry of War to impeach Li Dan. Instead, he pointed out in a subtle way that there was a lot of talk about Li Dan leading troops at the court as a young man, and said that if the son took part in the imperial examination, he would have a bright future.
Shi Hao guessed that the emperor wanted Li Dan to give up his martial arts, join the court as a scribe, and become an upright official, so he asked Zhao Chongbi to discuss how to persuade him.
Zhao Chongbi came back after receiving the mission, but unexpectedly, he didn't even need to ask, he had already planned to do so.
"Oh, then you have to start from scratch?" Zhao Chongbi said.
"I am grateful for the cultivation of Your Majesty, Marshal Shi and Your Majesty. However, if I can pass the imperial examination and become an official based on my own strength, I think my late father will be very happy when he knows about it, and those clamoring voices will lose their confidence."
"I promised you to continue taking the imperial examination before." Zhao Chongbi nodded: "Well, let's not change our original intention and we will still take this path!"
"The student has thanked you, sir. But...will your majesty be unhappy?" Li Dan asked hesitantly.
"Don't worry, he will understand and support you. And once you leave the team training, this farce of impeachment will not be able to continue, but His Majesty has enough to see the faces of those villains. This is a plan to kill two birds with one stone, Your Majesty is in the heart It’s very clear!”
Zhao Chongbi suddenly smiled and waved to Li Dan to come closer, and whispered: "Your Majesty dismissed the impeachment, and Hong Danian has been reprimanded by his superiors. On the other hand, you have been promoted to the rank of First Class, and your Majesty has also given you a great favor."
"Oh? Is there any other grace?"
"His Majesty inquired about Chen Tixue's involvement in the case and learned that he was still on his way to his post when the student committed the crime, but for some reason the Nanjing Criminal Department insisted on him taking the blame. His Majesty was furious and ordered the Metropolitan Procuratorate to investigate the matter. .
At the same time, Yilongwei and Xingrensi were sent to Shaanxi and Gansu to recover Mr. Chen, and temporarily left him in Xijing. An edict will be issued after the case is investigated. Hey, hey, hey, what are you doing? Get up quickly! "
Before he finished speaking, Li Dan had already left his seat and bowed down, and Zhao Chongbi hurried over to pull him up.
"Thank you, Your Majesty.
Well, thank you, sir! "Li Dan cried with joy. Now the day of peace for Chen Menger's family was not far away, and his efforts were finally not in vain.
"Oh! What a crazy person!" Zhao Chongbi smiled bitterly: "His Majesty wrote to me that it is inconvenient for you to be promoted to an official position due to your young age, and he hopes you will not mind it."
"How dare you!" Li Dan stood up and bowed his head again excitedly: "Please report the times and thank your Majesty again! Your Majesty is a wise master, and Dan will never fail your Majesty or the Zhao family in this life!"
Liu Xi saw Li Dan again and saw that he was beaming with joy. He just thought that he was happy to be the groom's official, so he flattered him a few words and congratulated him with a hundred taels of votes, stating that he did not know whether he would be able to catch up with this event. It was a happy event and I didn't prepare a gift, so I used this piece of paper as a substitute.
Li Dan listened to his words and observed his actions, and knew that he had something to say, so he invited him to ride the carriage back to Yugan. Liu Xi naturally didn't want it and got on the bus immediately.
"Have your servant seen that treasure? Are you satisfied with it?" Li Dan asked with a smile in the car.
"Satisfied, extremely satisfied!" Liu Xi gave a thumbs up: "Just... I wonder what the production volume of this treasure is?"
"That's cast iron. We tried to produce some for use in workers' residences first, and then gave them to Yingxian Hall and other places." Li Dan told him:
"Cast iron is something between pig iron and steel. The newly established smelters and iron factories in Huanghuang Port are currently in the trial production stage and can only produce about a hundred furnaces per month.
I plan to involve Jinxian Iron Works. Although they were affected by banditry some time ago, they can produce two hundred stoves per month without any problem. "
Liu Xi frowned after hearing this: "So few? Then when can we supply Shang Jing? The demand for the capital is in the tens of thousands!"
"Your Majesty, please don't worry, I'm afraid it will be too late to popularize it in the capital this winter. The current output can only be sold to nobles, officials and wealthy families.
But we can popularize the use of coal cakes first. When people discover the benefits of coal cakes this winter, wouldn't it be much more convenient next year when we want to vigorously promote stoves? "
"Oh! That makes sense!" Liu Xi suddenly realized.
"I plan to promote four kinds of briquettes in the capital." Li Dan continued: "The ones mixed with spices such as sandalwood and mint can be fragrant and fragrant, or elegant and clean. They can be made into various shapes and are specially used in palaces and palaces. Honorable to use.
The second grade is just like what you used, mixed with fragrant powder and wood powder, and supplied to officials, scribes and wealthy households.
Another one is for ordinary families. The last one is very simple, without adding anything, just roll it into balls like shaking Lantern Festival, and sell it directly to the army, government agencies and poor people. "
He said and looked at Liu Xi: "It's just..., I heard that the coal mines around Shangjing are far away in Suixian and Zhexian. If you want to meet the coal demand of the capital, they need to be transported here."
"This is not difficult. Don't you have a carriage for transporting goods?" Liu Xi pointed at his feet: "This carriage is your specialty!"
"It's true that I have a carriage, but that's Shangjing, and there are many local businessmen there. Is it bad if I just rush in like this?" Li Dan expressed embarrassment.
"Oh! Yes, yes!" Liu Xi understood immediately: "This..., sir, do you have any clever ideas?"
"Man perishes for wealth, and birds perish for food." Li Dan said leisurely and smiled:
"I don't have any special abilities, but if the servant can persuade Guide Mansion and bring in one or two local big businessmen, I can give them each a share. In this way, things will go much smoother, right? Already?".
"High, really high!" Liu Xi grinned and suddenly became worried: "Will 10% be too little for them?"
Li Dan shook his head: "How could it be? If His Majesty also takes 10%, do they dare to ask for more?"
Liu Xi's eyes lit up: "Sir, do you want to dedicate 10% of your penis to Your Majesty?"
"That won't work. It will give the civil servants a reason to compete with the people for profit." Li Dan blinked: "But your Majesty has been so kind to me, how can I fail to repay it?
If His Majesty buys shares, according to the rules of our business group, I will naturally decide the share price. There is a big difference between one tael or one penny.
As for the price of shareholders' shares, it is top secret and difficult for outsiders to know, but it can be manipulated here. "After Li Dan finished speaking, he took out
Liu Xi gave him the vote: "The same goes for the servant, this counts as your investment!"
"Hehe, just don't be too young for your brother!" Liu Xi was elated: "Your Majesty, let me help you!"
"Then do you know what I am going to do?" Li Dan took the ticket back into his arms and said, "I will set up a company."
"What is a company?"
"It's an organization that everyone has invested in and entrusted me to run." Li Dan gave him a general knowledge, and then continued:
"This company sells fossil fuels and the required stoves, chimneys, fire tongs, etc. in Shangjing. It recruits manpower to transport the briquettes and stoves purchased by customers to their homes, install them and teach them to use them, and then recycles, cleans and transports the slag and sells them together."
"Wait a minute," Liu Xi stopped him: "We still have to deal with the transportation of slag? Can this thing be sold?"
"Of course!" Li Dan told him: "The slag can be used to make bricks and build roads. That's a good thing!" The two people said as they walked.
By the time the carriage and escort were approaching Yugan, Liu Xi had already roughly understood Li Dan's entire business plan. His eyes were filled with strings of copper coins and mountains of banknotes. The company is full of expectations.
Ha ha! It’s worth the trip, at least you won’t have to worry about food and drink for the rest of your life!
