An artifact that can relieve the cold winter in the capital.
Zhao Zhen stood up and said anxiously: "Jingde (Qi Guogong), where is the artifact?"
The Duke of Qi replied: "Your Majesty, the artifact is outside the palace."
"Send it over quickly."
Everyone in the hall craned their necks to look outside the hall. The British Duke said to the Marquis of Xiangyang not far behind him:
"Binzhou, what exactly is the artifact your son-in-law mentioned?"
The Marquis of Xiangyang smiled and stroked his beard and said, "Jingde is just fooling around. It's just a small thing. It can't be called a divine weapon."
Seeing the old man's proud look, the British prince felt a little unhappy. Just as he was about to say a few words, he saw the emperor's personal chamberlain leading three young men into the palace.
Two of them were each carrying a black iron bucket, and something black was burning in one of the black iron buckets, which looked like coal.
"What kind of artifact! Isn't it just a stove, trying to impress the public?"
"The Duke of Qi is suffering from hysteria! If this thing can be regarded as a divine weapon, then my gold-plated Crane Qing Bo Mountain Furnace can be regarded as a legendary divine weapon."
"My red clay stove..."
The emperor and other three people came closer and were greatly disappointed when they saw clearly. They immediately stared at the cheap son-in-law.
However, Duke Guo of Qi did not panic at all. He slowly introduced the advantages of briquettes to the emperor in detail and demonstrated them himself.
"Your Majesty, this briquette has another special feature. The smoke is much smaller than that of firewood."
The emperor approached the stove and took a closer look. He found that there was really no soot and no pungent smell.
My interest immediately increased, and I stretched out my hand to test the fire power.
The Duke of Qi hurriedly stretched out his hand to stop it and reminded: "Your Majesty, don't look at the small charcoal cake, but the firepower is very strong. It only takes a cup of tea to boil a small amount of water."
The emperor immediately asked his chamberlain to bring an iron sling filled with water and put it on the stove.
"Qi Guogong, how long can a piece of coal cake burn?" Several princes and princes came to the stove at some point and commented on the stove and the charcoal cake.
Duke Qi could only repeat the advantages of honeycomb briquettes one more time, and then led a few people to a brand new honeycomb stove nearby and demonstrated it from the beginning of ignition.
When the ministers learned that a family of five could stay warm for a day with only 20 cents, they discovered that Qi Guogong was really not lying. For the current city of Tokyo, this thing is really considered an 'artifact'.
Seeing that the officials and ministers were all satisfied, Qi Guogong discussed the various benefits to the Song Dynasty after the large-scale promotion of "briquette coal" and proposed to cancel the useless carbon tax.
"Your Majesty, you must not do this."
Censor Zhongcheng stepped out of the train and objected loudly:
"Nowadays, the imperial court's expenses are very difficult. If there is a shortage of more than 100,000 yuan in carbon tax, the national treasury will definitely be unable to make ends meet, and the government will be struggling to make ends meet."
The largest firewood merchant in the entire Tokyo city is his good junior brother Lu Gongbi, the governor of Kaifeng. As his senior brother and the chief censor, he naturally got a share of the stock. Even though it was only a small half, he just got it a while ago.
Last year's dividend was a total of 120,000 yuan.
Just now he was thinking about how to get the government to increase the carbon tax, otherwise the sales of charcoal in the future could be imagined.
Taking away someone's wealth is like killing one's parents, and destroying someone's loved ones is like eating one's flesh and blood.
The previous conflict with Qi Guogong was purely due to official business, but now it is a fight to the death.
"Your Majesty, the Duke of Qi has purchased a large amount of charcoal fields these days. He is harming the public and benefiting private interests. He is doing nothing to benefit private interests. The Duke of Qi has such a heart that can be punished!"
"Your Majesty, I impeach the Duke of Qi..."
"His Majesty..."
The official glanced at the main hall, returned to the throne, and said to Qi Guo Gong: "Qi Guo Gong, is it true?"
Duke Guo of Qi put up the attendance board and acknowledged it generously.
These days, his wife bought a total of 17 charcoal farms, and his precious son also bought 8 charcoal farms.
Seeing that the emperor's face turned cold, he immediately said, "Your Majesty, the charcoal and firewood subsidies that the imperial court gives to all officials every year cost more than 550,000 guan. In the future, charcoal cakes can be used instead, which will save about 400,000 guan every year.
.
The Salt and Iron Department spent 696,800 guan on purchasing firewood last year, one-third of which can be replaced by charcoal cakes, saving about 150,000 guan a year, and there are also weapons workshops..."
If you don't mention it, you won't know. If you calculate it, you will be shocked.
The emperor's mind immediately turned to the major charcoal consumers. As for how many charcoal sites Qi Guogong bought, it was only a few hundred thousand charcoal. He would neither steal nor rob.
If you eat meat yourself, you must drink some soup for others, otherwise no minister will work for him and Song Dynasty in the future.
Zhao Zhen's mind was spinning rapidly... The big charcoal users also had generals as supervisors, and his own palace... almost forgot about the five super wealthy money supervisors... After a while of mental calculation, he estimated that the imperial court could save two hundred dollars a year.
It costs more than 10,000 yuan, but the annual carbon tax is only 100,000 yuan...
Zhao Zhen immediately made the decision to cancel the carbon tax, and also ordered Taifu Temple to open more charcoal fields across the country. How many? The more, the better.
"Congratulations to Your Majesty, with this thing, the soldiers and people of the Song Dynasty no longer have to suffer from the cold winter."
"Congratulations to Your Majesty, our Song Dynasty can have this thing, it is all due to Your Majesty's contribution."
"Congratulations to the official family..."
Seeing someone stealing his lines, Qi Guogong felt a little regretful. He suddenly remembered his son's instructions and bowed deeply.
"Your Majesty, this stove has not yet been named. I sincerely ask the officials to give it a name!"
The emperor nodded slightly, and just as he had this idea... he asked the chamberlain to bring the desk, prepare pen, ink, paper and inkstone, and write "Peace Furnace" on the paper with a pen.
Putting down the brush and reading the three words on the paper, the emperor felt a little regretful and a little out of sorts.
Then he signaled to the chamberlain to give the letter to Qi Guogong.
The Duke of Qi, who was holding the 'Safety Stove' in his hand, patted the official's house and left. He looked at the piece of paper in his hand and was a little dumbfounded.
He solved the entire capital city's heating problem in winter during the Song Dynasty, and helped the court save millions of dollars every year, all with a thin piece of paper?
I don’t dare to think about iron coupons or death-free gold medals, but it is the minimum to be promoted to an official level...
When he was stunned, a man suddenly walked out from the back hall, took his arm and said, "Duke Qi, your Majesty has summoned you."
The speaker was none other than the emperor's chief steward, Liang Daguan. Duke Qi hurriedly asked, "Sir, do you know why your Majesty is looking for me?"
After turning to a secluded alley, he saw no one around him, so he stuffed a jade sign as a token of filial piety.
Officer Liang rubbed the jade medal twice with his thumb, and he estimated that it was a good thing, so he reminded him in a low voice, "It should be a good thing. Mr. Guo remembers to keep the story short."
Duke Guo of Qi knew that 90% of it was about rewards.
After entering the Chui Gong Hall, he had just bowed and before he straightened his waist, the official asked him what reward he wanted.
Although the relationship between the two was good, how could he say anything like this? Maybe the emperor just asked casually and really wanted to take it seriously... He declined politely after being humble.
"If I remember correctly, Jingde has been working as a salt and iron envoy for almost ten years, right?"
The Duke of Qi was overjoyed. The emperor asked this. The meaning was self-evident. It was a prelude to his promotion. He suppressed his excitement and said: "By next month, it will be ten years." Suddenly remembering something, the Duke of Qi regretfully took the photo.
He immediately took out a pamphlet from his sleeve and handed it to Senior Official Liang, "Your Majesty, the booklet contains the drawings of the coal stove and the recipe for charcoal cakes."
Zhao Zhen took the brochure from Liang Daguan's hand and flipped through it. He found that the production process of both items was very simple and it would not take much time to imitate them. However, he was very happy to hand it over on his own initiative, "Jingde, these two items