Chapter 432 Eat enough and wear warm clothes
Deliberately acting mediocre, greedy and lustful in front of him, his speech and behavior are also a little deliberate, and many words are said after thinking, which is very different from last year.
"Recently, who are they getting closer to outside?"
Liu Jin, who stood silently behind Zhu Biao, said softly: "Most of them are the children of the mother's wife's family. They often gather together in restaurants to drink and throw pots for fun. Sometimes they go hunting in the mountains and forests outside the city."
Zhu Biao narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "Including those who will be knighted in the future?"
Liu Jin knew that His Royal Highness was asking about Duke Wei’s eldest son Deng Zhen, Song Guogong’s eldest son Feng Shi, and Song Guogong’s nephew Ying Guogong Feng Cheng.
Liu Jin replied: "The slaves and servants are still reasonable, especially the Duke of Ying rarely shows up. Only when he can't shirk will he go to banquets and drink, and he never goes out hunting with them."
Zhu Biao knew what he was hearing, and this was why he interceded to release the palace for the three, just to see who would move forward.
After all, there are only so many positions under the command of the Crown Prince Donggong, and it is not difficult to surrender if you want to, so it is not difficult to understand that some people want to settle for the second best. After all, the princes are all the sons of the founder of the country. It's the feudal king's.
Instead of being at the bottom of the East Palace, it is better to rely on the prince who is closer. In the future, the family can also live in the court neutrally. Zhu Biao believes that there should be many people who have this idea.
After thinking for a while, Zhu Biao turned around and went straight to the Ministry of Industry. Since the past two years, the Ministry of Industry has been concentrating on researching the coal he requested and sending people to search for various mineral resources all over the world.
Food and clothing are the greatest desire of the people at the bottom, and it is also the first problem that Zhu Biao has to solve. At present, the Ming Dynasty is sparsely populated, and the food problem is more limited by natural disasters and man-made disasters, rather than land annexation at the end of the dynasty.
So Daming was actually not so eager for high-yield grains, not to mention that those crops were not finished products when they were found.
The biggest problem for the people, especially the people in the north, is that it is difficult to survive the winter. Cotton production has increased a lot after Lao Zhu’s forced promotion in the past few years, but the price after being transported to the north is not low, and the poor people still cannot wear it. From the cotton coat.
Not to mention the coal and charcoal that the rich and powerful can afford, so Zhu Biao has been asking the Ministry of Industry to produce low-cost coal at a low cost. I have to say that the Ministry of Industry still has capable people.
After just a few months of research, there are results, but the price is still expensive, but it is relatively cheap. Poor people may be able to buy some, but they will only burn some when they can’t stand the cold winter months. Frozen is still frozen.
So the research has been going on, and now two years have passed, and he only received the news on the way back to Beijing from Shanxi-Gansu, saying that it was a success, and the production cost of coal was only ten yuan.
Zhu Biao calculated that if mass production is done, the cost can be further reduced. After all, in today's era, the cost of using labor is extremely low, and some people can't find an errand to do it.
All the way to the Ministry of Industry, Zhu Biao walked in a hurry, but no one approached him ignorantly to meet and chat.
The leader of the Shangshu of the Ministry of Industry greeted him in front of the gate of the government office of the Ministry of Industry. After saying a few words, they stepped into a workshop together. He said: "It's really messy here, Your Highness might as well wait for a while, and I will order someone to clean it."
The Minister of the Ministry of Industry immediately nodded and said: "Don't worry, Your Highness, the ministers are all paying attention."
Walking into a room, several craftsmen were kneeling on the ground and waiting. There were several large baskets of coal in front of them, and a fire stove behind them: "The villain waits to see the prince, the prince will be forever!"
Zhu Biao nodded and said with a smile: "Two years of hard work are not in vain after all. As long as the coal is as you said in the previous report, I will not be stingy with rewards."
Among them, the old man with gray beard and hair but strong body kowtowed and said: "I dare not lie to you, the prince, please examine it."
Shangshu of the Ministry of Industry waved his hand and said: "Put it in the stove and let His Highness see the effect."
After a few people responded, they stood up cautiously and started to work. Since they had already prepared to add coal to the fire, there were bursts of heat soon.
But it’s not a big deal. After all, coal has such an effect. Zhu Biao only cares about its cost, how long it can burn, and whether it can be burned by poor people.
Liu Jin picked up a piece of coal from the ground. Zhu Biao saw that there were many small holes in the middle, presumably for better lighting of the fire. The appearance was not neat, it was dark and rough.
The Minister of the Ministry of Industry began to introduce the manufacturing method, and the craftsmen waited unconsciously rubbing their hands. The main materials of this coal are raw coal, yellow mud, charcoal powder and some other things that are confusing.
Zhu Biao waved his hands after listening for a while and said, "Why is the cost cheap?"
The Minister of the Ministry of Industry stopped talking helplessly. It was hard for him to memorize the names of so many tongue-twisting materials, so he deliberately asked many Taoist priests who knew alchemy, thinking that if he asked His Highness, he could tell allusions.
Who would have thought that His Highness would not ask at all, so he had to answer honestly: "Because the raw coal used does not need to be high-grade lumps, but crushed coal **** is also fine. Those are useless things, so the cost is extremely low."
Zhu Biao smiled when he heard the words, picked up a piece of black coal and weighed it in spite of his dirty hands, and said: "Have you tested for coal poisoning? It's not serious, you need ventilation."
"this…"
Everyone in the room looked at each other, and the minister of the Ministry of Industry said: "I haven't tried this, but I haven't found anyone suffering from coal poisoning after so long. I guess it should be fine as long as the ventilation is normal."
Zhu Biao ordered: "In the future, whenever the Ministry of Industry develops anything, as long as it is for human use, it must be tested more. You can use some livestock to test it, just in case."
Of course no one would refute what Zhu Biao said, and they all agreed. Zhu Biao said to Liu Jin who was on the side: "Pretend to take some away. I want to ask the Holy Majesty to take a look."
The Shangshu of the Ministry of Industry hurriedly said: "This coal is crudely produced, and it is really not suitable for supplying to the Holy Majesty. If Your Highness needs it, I will immediately order someone to make a batch of good ones."
Zhu Biao waved his hands and said with a smile: "It's okay, the original purpose is to sell to the common people, practicality is the first priority, and the rest are trivial matters."
……………
(end of this chapter)