The black and heavy briquettes were placed in the blazing charcoal fire. The originally very warm charcoal basin suddenly became less warm after part of the sparks were blocked!

"Xuan'er, we don't lack charcoal at home. Why did you bring so many briquettes? It's hard to burn this thing!"

Li Jingmo frowned.

Although the shape of the briquettes Li Zexuan picked up was a little different, coal was coal. In Li Jingmo's opinion, no matter what shape it was, it would not be easy to burn with charcoal.

Li Zexuan said with a smile: "Dad, it's true that our family can afford charcoal, but most people's homes can't afford it! Your son is practicing good deeds! Besides, this briquette is not just for heating the fire, you see.

All right!"

When Li Jingmo saw that his son was going to be stubborn to the end, he shook his head and stopped trying to dissuade him.

Mrs. Li, on the other hand, was very attentive. She asked softly: "Xuan'er, are your briquettes and stoves designed specifically for poor people? If that's the case, mother supports you! I don't know how many people freeze to death in Chang'an City every year. You

This is a matter of immeasurable merit!"

Women generally believe in cause and effect. Besides, since Li Zexuan was rescued by Master Lingxu, Mrs. Li has become a loyal Taoist believer. At the end of every month, she will go to Xuandu Temple to pray for the peace of her family!

"Xiao Xuan, grandma also supports you! As the saying goes, if you do three good deeds in one day, you will be blessed by heaven in three years; if you do three evil things in one day, you will be punished by heaven in three years! The Li family is now also a wealthy and noble family. Only if you accumulate more virtue

Only by doing good deeds can we continue to be rich!"

Mrs. Ye patted Li Zexuan's arm and smiled kindly.

Four generations of the Ye family have practiced Taoism. Mrs. Ye has been influenced by her ears and eyes, and many Taoist teachings have been engraved in her heart. She believes in the cycle of cause and effect more than Mrs. Li!

"Ha! Thank you, mother! Thank you, grandma!"

Li Zexuan smiled.

He actually doesn't care about the cycle of cause and effect, and good deeds are rewarded with good deeds. He just does good deeds to give himself peace of mind!

Gradually, after a while, blue-yellow charcoal flames shot out along the coal hole, and the inner wall of the coal hole was burned red. Li Zexuan looked slightly excited and shouted: "Okay!"

Then he used tongs to pick up the briquettes in the charcoal basin and carefully put them into the coal stove. Then he piled another briquette on top of the briquettes, so that the coal holes between the two briquettes overlapped.

After everything was done, he looked at Li Jingmo and said with a smile: "Dad, how's it going? This briquette doesn't burn much slower than charcoal, right?"

Before Li Jingmo said anything, Ye Guozhong stared at a few honeycomb briquettes scattered on the ground in surprise and exclaimed: "It's amazing! This seemingly useless piece of coal can burn so easily after being manipulated by you, Xiaoxuan!"

This can really be regarded as the Midas touch that turns stone into gold!"

The price of charcoal in the Tang Dynasty was not cheap at all, especially in the early Tang Dynasty. It is recorded in the "Old Book of Tang Dynasty" that "there were tens of thousands of righteous soldiers in the capital, and woodcutters' wages were expensive but cloth was cheap." This refers to the early Tang Dynasty.

Due to the initial establishment of the country, rebels from all over the country gathered in the capital, resulting in an increase in fuel prices.

Although prices were cheap during the Zhenguan period, the price of charcoal was basically around 700-800 yuan per stone (100 kilograms). The price of good smokeless willow charcoal was even more expensive!

Don’t think that seven or eight cents per pound of charcoal seems cheap, but this thing is a consumable! How long can a pound of charcoal burn?

For a wealthy family like the Li family, they don't care about the money for charcoal, but for ordinary people, burning charcoal is equivalent to burning money! How many families can afford it?

Cao Tang, a Taoist poet in the late Tang Dynasty, described the kitchen in the fairyland in his "Ninety-eight Poems about Immortals": "What are the cooking maids cooking? The stove is full of smokeless jade charcoal red."

In Cao Tang's view, using charcoal for cooking was just a wonderful fantasy in fairyland. This poem just proved the reality of charcoal use at that time, that is, how difficult it was for ordinary people to use charcoal for cooking.

matter.

In fact, in the Tang Dynasty, the consumers of charcoal were mainly the upper class of society. At that time, the salaries of the emperor's relatives and the first to fifth-rank officials in the capital included the supply of charcoal. During the Tianbao period, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty even established a

Accountants and other positions were specifically responsible for fuel-related matters, and within the imperial court, there was also a special post of Charcoal Envoy to be in charge of related matters.

It is precisely based on this that Ye Guozhong said that the honeycomb briquettes made by Li Zexuan are the means of turning stone into gold! After all, those coals were difficult to burn in the past, how are they different from stones? But now, after Li Zexuan's doing, it is completely turning waste into treasure.

It turns stone into gold! There is some great wealth behind this briquette!

"What does it mean to turn stone into gold? This is obviously a meritorious service! Xiaoxuan, this briquette should be cheaper than charcoal, right?"

Mrs. Ye patted Ye Guozhong's arm, then looked at Li Zexuan and asked.

Li Zexuan nodded with a smile and said: "Of course it's cheap, and it's a lot cheaper! Grandma, even if this briquette is sold for only a penny, my grandson will not suffer a loss!"

He is now a real tycoon who "has a mine at home". For him, briquettes only need to consider the labor and transportation costs. If they are spread equally on each briquette, the cost is pitifully low! It costs only a penny each, and he still pays for it.

I really can’t bear the loss!

"Yo~! One penny each? That's really cheap~!"

Old Mrs. Ye is also very discerning. Based on her visual inspection, she felt that a briquette weighed at least a pound. The price of a pound was less than a penny. Compared with charcoal, it was not too cheap!

"Ah! Brother! The briquettes on top are also burning! It's so warm~!"

Lan'er stared at the coal stove for a long time and suddenly screamed. Her little hands were touching the outer wall of the coal stove to keep warm. Her little face was full of excitement!

Li Zexuan took a look, picked up a piece of briquettes from the ground and put it into the coal stove. Finally, he said: "This stove usually requires three briquettes to be put in at the same time, so that the heat inside can be transferred to the furnace mouth! Now below

The two briquettes are already burning, the one on top will burn faster! Xiaohe, go to the kitchen and help me get a copper kettle and fill it with water~!"

".....Yes, Master~!"

Xiaohe responded and quickly opened the door and went out.

Ye Fashan guessed Li Zexuan's intention and asked: "Cousin, are you going to boil water on this stove~?"

"Yes! That's right! In addition to being used for making fires and keeping warm, the biggest use of this briquette is to boil water and cook rice! And its advantages in this regard cannot be replaced by charcoal~!"

Li Zexuan responded with a smile.

After a while, Xiao He came back carrying a copper kettle.

Kettles in this era were either made of pottery or copper, but their appearance was still very different from modern kettles. Li Zexuan is too lazy to care about these things now. For him, as long as they can be used to boil water, it is enough.

.

He placed the copper pot on the mouth of the coal stove and opened the cover of the ventilation hole of the coal stove. After a while, the fire became more intense.

In less than half a quarter of an hour, a "squeaking" sound came from the kettle.

Mrs. Li was surprised and said: "This briquette can burn water really fast, much faster than firewood!"

Li Zexuan responded: "Mom! This thing not only boils water quickly, but also lasts a long time. Don't look at it. There are only three pieces of briquettes in it. But if it is only used to boil water, one piece of briquettes can burn for more than three hours at most, which is only a total of 3 hours per day.

Four briquettes need to be replaced!

If you just want to keep the briquettes burning and leave only a small hole in the ventilation opening of the briquettes, one briquette can burn for about six hours, and you only need to change two pieces of coal a day. This way you can avoid the trouble of starting a fire every time.

Got it!"

Combustion requires a certain environment: combustibles, oxygen, and temperature. A single briquette cannot burn because it cannot maintain the temperature. Briquettes can burn normally in a stove, and at least two briquettes are needed in the stove. Generally, household stoves need both

It takes three briquettes to boil water for cooking.

What Li Zexuan said is all based on his experience.

In his previous life, he had burned briquettes at home for at least ten years, so he knew the characteristics of briquettes very well!

Next to them, Ye Yuzhu, Mrs. Ye and others were shocked when they heard what Li Zexuan said!

To burn the coal stove for one day with full fire, only four pieces of briquettes are needed, which is four cents! If the charcoal is burned for one day, it will cost hundreds of cents at least! Four cents is worth hundreds of cents, which is a lot of money.

Nearly a hundred times the difference!

And even if you don’t use charcoal, you still have to use firewood! People outside Chang’an can indeed go to the mountains to cut firewood themselves, but people in the city have to pay for firewood! Calculating the cost of firewood for this day is actually the same as

It’s almost the same as burning coal!

I have to say that this briquette really saves money! Moreover, it has no smoke and is many times easier to use than firewood!

"Xuan'er, this is a good thing! You don't know how much easier it will be to boil water and cook with this coal stove and briquettes! If this thing is sold, the people will not care whether they have money at home or not.

Definitely rush to buy it!”

Mrs. Li said with a cheerful smile.

When she married Li Jingmo in her early years, she changed from a wealthy young lady who had no fingers in the sunshine to a virtuous wife who could work both in the hall and in the kitchen. She understood the difficulties in the kitchen best.

Before the large-scale development and application of coal and oil, almost no energy source was as important as firewood. Among them, firewood was mainly used for cooking! The smoky smell is really a pain!

"Cousin! How much does this coal stove cost~?"

Ye Fashan suddenly asked.

Li Zexuan pondered: "This coal stove is made of pure iron, so the cost is naturally more expensive. The cost of each stove is about one hundred and fifty cents~! But the lifespan of each stove is at least five years. Five years

There will basically be no problems within the period!”

"One hundred and fifty coins...five years! In careful calculation, it is indeed very cost-effective to use coal stoves and briquettes to cook water! But I guess many poor people are reluctant to spend so much money to buy coal stoves at once!"

Ye Fashan, who has a precocious mind, knows much more than his peers. He immediately saw what the biggest obstacles he would face if the coal-burning method were to be implemented on a large scale!

"Xuan'er, can we sell this stove to the common people at a loss? Anyway, our family is not short of money now, so we should do good deeds!"

Mrs. Li was kind-hearted. After listening to Ye Fashan's words, she couldn't help but suggest something to Li Zexuan.

"Mom! Although I don't care about money, doing good is not the way to do it! There are tens of millions of poor people in the world. Even if all our money is scattered, it won't make a few waves! In my eyes, doing good is

We also need to pay attention to sustainability. If you do it this time, there will be no next time! Regarding the price of coal stoves, I will find another way, mother, you don’t have to worry~!"

Li Zexuan shook his head and said.

Those world-class rich people in previous lives, such as Bill Gates, donated almost all their wealth to funds in their own names for charity after leaving office! At that time, they also persuaded Ma (yun) to do the same as them

He also donated all his property, but Ma’s father did not agree, because Ma’s father felt that if the money was donated and distributed to the poor, it would become dead money. When the poor used it, the money would be completely gone, but the money was left in his hands.
To be continued...