bayedsolid Chapter 579: Salt and Iron Department
Chapter 579: Salt and Iron Department
The atmosphere froze for a moment.
"Me?" Shen Zheng pointed at her own nose, then at Liang Fu and the other two: "Did I lie to you?"
The next moment, she slammed the table and stood up, her face full of hurt. "God and heaven are my conscience! Since I took office as the magistrate of Tongan County, when have I ever deceived you? Don't we have even the trust between us as sons? In this case, we won't build the furnace anymore, and we won't make steel anymore!"
Is Shen Zheng really sad?
of course not.
She was just using a tactic of "retreating to advance".
On the other hand, Yu Zhengqing and Liang Fu looked at each other with panic on their faces.
"we are not."
"we do not have."
"We never mean to distrust you!"
Shen Zheng pressed the issue: "Since you don't distrust me, what about the fine iron and wrought iron? Could it be that I will use them to do something bad?"
As she spoke, she turned away, leaving a "lonely" back to the two of them.
She wiped her tears and said, "I have no close relatives. I feel like I have a home again after coming to Tongan County. Sir Yu is both a teacher and an elder to me. Who would have thought that today... we would have a rift because of a hundred kilograms of fine iron..."
Yu Zhengqing's mustache trembled when he heard this.
It’s bad, Liang Fu has been left behind and only he is coming for him!
He glanced at Liang Fu and stood up, "Well...you sit down first, let's sit down and talk."
Shen Zheng didn't turn around, and asked sullenly, "Can we talk properly if we sit down?"
Yu Zhengqing nodded, and then found that Shen Zheng had her back to him and could not see him, so he had to speak: "Of course we can talk it out, don't let your imagination run wild. The reason why Lord Liang and I are like this is because the ironware is too important. Even if I want to give it to you, it's not just a matter of a word."
You should have told me earlier!
Shen Zheng burst into laughter and sat down.
She asked, "How can we get fine iron and wrought iron? We need to apply for it."
"Apply?" Yu Zhengqing was stunned for a moment, then reacted, "That's right. There is a salt and iron envoy stationed in the palace. If you want to mix refined iron, it must go through his hands. Several hundred kilograms of refined iron is not a small amount, not to mention that you also want steel... Oh no, wrought iron."
Yu Zhengqing inadvertently stabbed Liang Fu in the heart once again.
"Ministry of Revenue..." Shen Zheng nodded, "If I had known earlier, I would have brought Shen Xingjian here. It would have been more convenient with him here. What kind of person is the Salt and Iron Envoy?"
Speaking of the Salt and Iron Commissioner stationed in the capital, Yu Zhengqing showed undisguised admiration on his face, and also sighed: "He is a righteous man, but... it is precisely because he is too righteous that he is easily broken."
Shen Zheng nodded in understanding.
This is what a society composed of intelligent life forms is like, right and wrong.
She said, "In that case, would you please apply for me? It would be best if I could see the things when I return from Baiyun County."
Yu Zhengqing was stunned when he heard this, and asked, "You can only stay in Baiyun County for one night, right?"
Shen Zheng thought for a moment, "One or two days. I'll come back after I find something and negotiate with Magistrate Yin. After I come back, we'll start making the furnace. Once the furnace is ready and the raw materials are ready, we'll start firing colored glaze."
Yu Zhengqing also estimated the time in his mind. Using several hundred kilograms of iron to forge a furnace, it would take at least ten days if there were enough people.
It is indeed a rush.
At this time, Liang Fu's mind was no longer on Liuli. His mind was full of "real steel". Hearing this, he couldn't help but ask: "Then when will we melt the iron? Will the furnace be able to work?"
He saw it very clearly - Liuli was just the face of the Great Zhou, and steel was the real inside of the Great Zhou.
Shen Zheng imagined the structure of the blast furnace in her mind and gave Liang Fu a reassuring look. "As long as the furnace can be built, there will be no problem melting iron. However... we still have to wait until we burn the colored glaze first, after all, the Queen Mother's birthday is coming soon."
In fact, blast furnaces were originally created for iron smelting, and firing glass is secondary. If she wants to produce glass in large quantities in the future, she will still choose kilns first, after all, the cost is low.
Looking at her determined eyes, Liang Fu felt that he was one step closer to real steel.
Until late at night, with insects chirping and the bright moon hanging high in the sky, Liang Fu was still tossing and turning in bed.
Not sleepy at all!
He simply gathered his clothes and got out of bed. The wooden window filled with moisture was pushed open, and the cold wind rushed into the room, gradually making his mind clearer.
But he still felt that the conversation with Shen Zheng tonight was like a dream.
——How come after you say a few words and I say a few words, “steel” is not steel but wrought iron?
——How come we were talking about glass and the next moment we are going to start melting iron?
After melting the iron and following Lord Shen's instructions, would he be able to see real steel with his own eyes in his lifetime?
Where will steel be used at that time? How useful will real steel be on the battlefield?
He felt that he had suddenly become a war advocate tonight - after the steel machine was built, he really wanted to fight with Japan! Beat them to pieces, beat them to tears!
It was not until this moment that Liang Fu finally realized how excited he was - what should he do? He couldn't fall asleep just thinking about the colored glaze and molten iron!
The next morning, at the gate of Yu Mansion.
The servant went back and forth twice, but still hadn't finished moving all the luggage that Zhuang Zhiyun had prepared for Shen Zheng.
Shen Zheng looked at the large and small bags and spoke for the third time: "Aunt, I'll only be gone for two days at most. I really don't need so much..."
There were so many bags of food, and even quilts and stoves! Shen Zheng felt that she was not on a "business trip" but on a trip.
"You kid..." Zhuang Zhiyun gently scolded, "When you go out, it's better to bring more than less. If you can't finish eating or using it, just bring it back."
Shen Zheng looked at the horses pulling the cart with sympathy.
This heavy love is really hard to bear.
......
Xingning Prefecture.
In the past few days, everyone in Xingning Prefecture was in danger, and every household had their doors and windows closed. Although they were unwilling to believe it, they could only accept this horrifying fact - the epidemic in the prefecture was indeed smallpox.
Originally, only the residents of Huanxi Lane and Laonuo Lane suffered from the "disaster", but within just a few days, people in Wanjin Lane and Limin Lane also became infected!
But it was clear that Huanxi Lane and Laolu Lane had been sealed off, and sealed tightly. So...how did the smallpox epidemic spread without anyone noticing?
Every time the people thought about this, they felt horrified - where would the next street to be infected be? Would it be their lane? Would they be the next person to be infected?
This unpredictable feeling of fear enveloped them all the time. Every night, the house was filled with coughing and crying, like hell on earth.
A family had turned off the lights early, and whispers were heard: "Why don't we run away? I can't stay in this house for another day. If we don't leave, we might be the next to die!"