Chapter 43 Carboniferous

Wang Zhi is a smart man.

Li Shimian was very strict with Zhu Qizhen. He often had too much homework, the most common of which was practicing calligraphy.

After all, Zhu Qizhen's bad words are really not good-looking.

But Wang Zhi was different.

His class was extremely relaxed, and he seemed to spend most of the time discussing the past and the present with Zhu Qizhen. However, Wang Zhi's teaching was also of a high standard. He seemed to be far off topic, but in fact he always stuck to the subtle meaning of the Spring and Autumn Period.

It's just that the book Spring and Autumn is originally a mixture of classics and history. Among the various interpretations, some are biased towards classics and some are biased towards history books, but Wang Zhi completely took over part of history books.

The work of giving lectures on officials such as the "Tongjian Compendium" listed later on the emperor's curriculum was all snatched away by Wang Zhi.

However, Wang Zhi seemed to have no homework assignments. But in fact, Zhu Qizhen's life was not easy.

"Historical Records", "Hanshu", "Later Hanshu", "Three Kingdoms", "Jinshu", "Songshu", "Southern Qishu", "Liangshu", "Chenshu", "Weishu", "Northern Qi"

"Book", "Book of Zhou", "Book of Sui", "Southern History", "Northern History", "New Tang Book", "New History of the Five Dynasties", "Song History", "Liao History", "Jin History",

"History of the Yuan Dynasty" was collectively known as the Twenty-One Histories in the Ming Dynasty.

After Zhu Qizhen returned, he immediately took out the Twenty-One Histories hidden in the Qianqing Palace.

After reading it from beginning to end, Zhu Qizhen didn't have the patience, but the stories Wang Zhi told in class were only used to support his point of view, just like a dragonfly skimming over the water. It couldn't be explained in depth at all.

Zhu Qizhen naturally wanted to understand other things that he didn't understand.

This also takes a lot of time.

However, these lessons can be mastered by Zhu Qizhen himself.

No need to work hard anymore.

So Zhu Qizhen began to rectify the twenty-four yamen.

The Chief of Ceremonies and the Royal Horse Supervisor cannot be moved.

He also promoted Ruan An to the position of chief eunuch in the internal prison.

As for the Si She Jian, the Imperial Jian, the Divine Palace Jian, the Shang Shan Jian, the Shang Bao Jian, the Yin Shou Jian, the Zhidian Jian, and the Shang Yi Jian, he had no intention of touching any of these yamen.

After all, these yamen were in charge of the food, clothing, housing and transportation within the palace.

There is a lot of emphasis on these things, and they cannot be reduced arbitrarily.

However, he didn't do nothing.

The first thing he did was to check the accounts. He didn't even check it himself, but selected dozens of clever little eunuchs from the inner study to check all the accounts of the twenty-four yamen.

Of course, Zhu Qizhen doesn't just want to check the accounts.

He also gave them a list one by one and filled in the money consumed by each yamen one by one, so that he could have an intuitive understanding.

As for those whose accounts were unclear, Zhu Qizhen took him down without saying a word and just picked one of the eunuchs below. The Emperor of Ming Dynasty wanted to take down eunuchs, no matter how much power they had outside.

It's just one sentence.

There is nothing to say either internally or externally.

What really interested him was the four divisions and eight divisions.

The twenty-four yamen are all run by eunuchs, but that does not mean that the people below are all without authority. Among other things, the thousands of troops under the Yuma Prison were elites from the founding of the Ming Dynasty to the final fall of the country.

When the Ming Dynasty fell, Huang Degong was the imperial horse supervisor who achieved the final glory of the Yongwei camp.

Do you really think these people are all eunuchs?

This is true for Yuma Jian, and it is also true for other yamen.

The capital city at this time was a big construction site, and of course a considerable number of people were recruited by the Ministry of Works.

But there are also quite a few people who are affiliated with the inner court.

In the Qing Dynasty, there were more than 100,000 eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty.

In fact, it is not that these people are all eunuchs, but that most of them are under the management of eunuchs and serve the imperial palace. In the Qing court, this part was under the Thirteenth Yamen of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Zhu Qizhen first identified the Xixin Division.

The head of the Xixin Department was a white-haired old eunuch. Zhu Qizhen asked about it and found out that he entered the palace during the Hongwu period and was now sixty years old.

Zhu Qizhen saw that he was providing for the elderly. He said: "Wang Daban, set up another department from the palace, and let it be listed under Du Zhijian. The old eunuchs will be managed by Du Zhijian, either in the palace or under the supervision of Du Zhijian."

Find a place over the imperial mausoleum to retire in peace, and if you go, you will be buried next to the imperial mausoleum where they serve. Just arrange it well and don't mess with the feng shui of the imperial mausoleum."

Wang Zhen heard this and said with great joy: "Thank you so much, Your Majesty for your grace."

Zhu Qizhen also knew that this was indeed a grace. How many ministers outside could receive such treatment?

Zhu Qizhen immediately asked the eunuch, the leader of the Xixin Department, to be the first person to go to the imperial mausoleum to retire.

Zhu Qizhen said: "Wang Daban, do you have any capable people under you? This Xixin Division has to do something."

Wang Zhen immediately said: "This old slave has a adopted son who may be of use to Your Majesty."

Zhu Qizhen said: "Let him come."

After a while, a eunuch in his early twenties knelt down on the ground and said, "Meet the Emperor."

When Zhu Qizhen saw it, he immediately thought to himself: "What a good look."

This man was originally handsome when he grew up, but he was stabbed in the lower part, which made him even more indistinguishable between male and female, but he still had a heroic spirit that no one dared to look down upon.

Zhu Qizhen had a good impression at first sight and said, "What's your name?"

"My name is Cao Jixiang." The young eunuch said.

"Okay." Zhu Qizhen said, "It's up to you. Do you know what Xixinsi does?"

Cao Jixiang said: "We supply charcoal fires for the palace and build stoves for the palace. Everything used by your majesty is for the royal family. Wherever other empresses go, they are all made by the Xixin Secretary."

Zhu Qizhen thought to himself: "But I was wrong."

He originally thought that the Xixin Division was just a place to supply charcoal, but he didn't expect that it also had the responsibility of making it. He said, "Where does the charcoal fire in the palace come from?"

Cao Jixiang said: "It came from the Western Mountains. There is a charcoal farm in the Western Mountains, where charcoal is burned every day to supply the palace."

Zhu Qizhen said to Wang Zhen: "You are a good adopted son."

Wang Zhenye smiled and said: "It's all the emperor who praises him."

Zhu Qizhen said: "Have you ever known about charcoal?"

Zhu Qizhen did not praise him. Cao Jixiang was not in the Xinxing Department before, but now that he is called over, he can explain the functions of the Xinxing Department in detail.

This shows his ability.

You've done your homework.

Opportunities sometimes come to those who are prepared.

Zhu Qizhen suddenly asked about Xixin Secretary today, but he was not unprepared.

Because he had discovered something long ago, that is, the brazier used for heating in winter was filled with charcoal. He originally thought it was just him, but he found out later after asking.

The whole city of Beijing is like this.

Zhu Qizhen immediately felt that there was much to be done.

How many people are there in Beijing? It is estimated that there are millions of people in Zhuqi Town, most of whom are soldiers and craftsmen, as well as officials and their families. How much wood will be used for heating and cooking for these millions of people.

If it were replaced by coal, wouldn't it be a great source of wealth?

Of course, the reason why there is such a situation is not that people in the Ming Dynasty did not know the benefits of burning coal, but that the history of Beijing is too short.

If we follow the history of Beijing, we can extend it to the Spring and Autumn Period and even further.

However, the city of Beijing built in the Ming Dynasty has not yet been completely completed.

A large number of people suddenly poured in here, and the surrounding areas of Beijing were not ready to supply a million-level city. Even the food needed for this city had to be shipped from the south.

In later generations, millions of cities and many small counties will have cities of this size.

But in this era, it is a huge burden.

Zhu Qizhen has already asked some guards. Many mountains near Beijing City have been cut down. In many cases, the wood is transported to Beijing City from hundreds of miles away.

He felt the interest inside.

In his memory, there were coal mines near Beijing. Even in the late Qing Dynasty, many people in Beijing burned coal.

Therefore, he knew that this matter was not something that could be forced upon others.

Secondly, he values ​​not only the heating function of coal, but also how important coal is as an industrial raw material. Who doesn’t know. Although he can’t do many things now, it doesn’t stop him from having a hand here.

Anyway, for him, the most luxurious thing is time.

It's not too late to bury it for now and use it in the future.
Chapter completed!