In the winter, which would have been very quiet and had nothing to do, the blacksmith workshop on the Xia family Zhuangzi was clanging non-stop, and on the kiln, which was not very far from the blacksmith's workshop, there were also five or six people holding a strange cylindrical thing in their hands, pressing down and lifting it on a large black thing on the ground, and then there were more pieces of honeycomb coal of the same size on the ground. People on both sides are working in full swing, and Xia Hongsheng's house is also sweating. There are four coal stoves in the main hall, two in the back hall, and coal stoves in several main bedrooms, on which water can not only be used for hot water at any time, but also the water vapor emitted can also moisten the air in the house.

There are 300 households in Zhuangzi, and Xia Hongsheng can't be rich enough to build a coal stove for every house, so he can only let the housekeeper and the bookkeeper go together to investigate the lonely old people in Zhuangzi and the families without labor at home. Needless to say, the lonely old man does not have a laborer at home, and life will be very difficult, which was the case before Xia Hongsheng and her sister-in-law. This winter, coal stoves were built for these families to be sent so that they could live a warm winter. As for honeycomb coal, the lonely old man naturally sent it for free, and if there is no labor at home, he will go to the kiln to help beat coal, anyway, the physical strength required to make coal is not beaten, and the woman's family can also do it, so as to exchange for some honeycomb coal, and some copper coins, for the winter and the New Year.

Xia Hongsheng asked the blacksmith to make a large coal stove according to the size that could sit around seven or eight people, and the yellow mud stove inside had been improved, and one layer could produce three pieces of coal at a time. This large coal stove was not used by Xia Hongsheng himself, but by Xia Hongsheng in order to open up the market and open up sales.

Poor dealers! They have no knowledge, no way, they will only honestly farm according to the experience passed down by the old people, and the yield is not high, Xia Hongsheng wants to change their lives, make their harvest better, and diversify their production. It was decided to take advantage of this winter's sale of a batch of coal stoves, and all the money obtained was invested in the agricultural construction of Zhuangzi, leading the farmers to carry out a new type of agriculture.

Coal stoves can only be sold when the weather is cold, and Xia Hongsheng thought of a way to promote coal stoves as quickly as possible.

Two board cars, one in front of the other, one behind the other. The one in front was pulling the large coal stove and a few ordinary coal stoves, the one in the back was pulling hundreds of honeycomb coals, and there was a carriage of Xia Hongsheng in the back.

It took a whole day. Just returned to Chang'an from Jingyang, and put the things in the house sent by Qu Tutong, Xia Hongsheng fell asleep early - he had to go to court the next day, and he had to get up on the third watch!

The next day, when it was still dark, Xia Hongsheng was already walking on the way to the imperial city, outside the Suzaku Gate, the civil and military officials who rushed to the court rubbed their hands and stomped their feet, and finally waited until the point was completed, and walked to the Taiji Palace together with the palace guards. Then enter the Tai Chi Hall and stand on both sides.

The weather was really cold, Xia Hongsheng didn't even have the intention of napping against the pillar, his frozen hands and feet hurt, and he kept rubbing his hands, but he didn't dare to move too much, it was uncomfortable.

"Lord Xia?" The official standing on Xia Hongsheng's right saw Xia Hongsheng's appearance and asked with a smile, "Lord Xia didn't prepare a soup woman?" ”

Xia Hongsheng was stunned for a moment, but saw the official's hand flipped over and took out something from his sleeve. It was a little bigger than a fist, a flat round pot with a cloth bag wrapped around it.

"Xia Guan's hands have already been warmed, so let's warm up Lord Xia's hands." The officer whispered in a low voice. Then he secretly handed the flat round pot to Xia Hongsheng at the bottom.

"Thank you, sir!" Xia Hongsheng's face was happy, and he quickly took it, and immediately felt a warmth spread along the palm of his hand. Shook it gently, it seemed to be water inside, so I made up my mind, it turned out that this soup woman was an ancient warm water bag!

But. If you are drunk when you make a metal kettle, can't you get a cowhide bag? It's easy to carry and comfortable to hold!

Finally, when everyone hurriedly walked out of the hall, Xia Hongsheng hurriedly chased a few steps forward, caught up with Wang Delai, and said, "Please stay in the king's chamberlain!" I also asked the king's chamberlain to report it, and said that Xia Hongsheng had something to offer to His Majesty! ”

"Wait a minute, my lord, let's go and report to everyone." Wang De saluted Xia Hongsheng, and Xia Hongsheng also returned the salute, and then stood outside the hall and waited.

didn't wait long, Wang De called Xia Hongsheng to go in, Xia Hongsheng followed Wang De to the apse of the Taiji Palace, and there was a charcoal basin next to Li Shimin's throne, which was also filled with a stream of charcoal acid.

"Weichen Xia Hongsheng, meet Your Majesty!" Xia Hongsheng bowed.

Li Lao Er raised his head, looked at Xia Hongsheng with a smile on his face, and asked, "What, what are you going to use to fool me?" ”

"Uh, Weichen is wronged!" Xia Hongsheng said to Li Laoer: "The weather is cold, Weichen is worried about Your Majesty, Your Majesty's palace is so big, how cold it should be inside!" The charcoal pot is not warm, not to mention, the smell is still unpleasant, and there is a danger of charcoal poisoning after burning for a long time. Therefore, Wechen racked his brains, and during this period of time, he thought day and night, and after Wechen's fine design, he tested ......"

"If you talk nonsense, get out of here!" Li Lao Er glared at Xia Hongsheng with a black line on his face.

"Oh, Weichen made a few coal stoves for His Majesty, specially dedicated to His Majesty, just outside the Suzaku Gate, and asked His Majesty to send a guard to bring it in, and Weichen will install it for Your Majesty!" Xia Hongsheng hurriedly put away his boastful words and said honestly.

Li Lao Er listened: "Coal stove? ”

After thinking for a while, Li Lao Er turned his head to Wang De and said, "Wang De, go and call a few guards and bring things in." ”

"Everyone, this ......" Wang De hesitated.

"It's okay, let's go." Li Lao Er waved his hand: "I'm curious." ”

Xiao'er, are you still worried that my brother will send something bad to the palace? Sure enough, it's an old eunuch, but he has a lot of eyes!

Xia Hongsheng scolded while giving Li Lao Er a general explanation of the coal stove, and he didn't wait long, he saw a group of guards carrying those coal stoves, and when they arrived outside the door, Li Lao Er let them in, and when they saw those things, they couldn't help but be stunned.

Xia Hongsheng began to assemble the coal stove, Li Lao Er asked the guards to help, searched left and right, and finally found a suitable location, where an iron pipe was installed, and Xia Hongsheng used pliers to clamp the honeycomb coal and put it in the charcoal basin to ignite it.

It took a long time to finally install the coal stove, and the honeycomb coal was ignited and put into the coal stove.

While operating, Xia Hongsheng explained to Wang De the use of the coal stove and the matters that need attention, and the explanation was clear and very detailed, and even wrote it on a piece of paper and handed it to Wang De. After all, it's for the emperor, but it can't tolerate the slightest mistake.

"It's not good if it's just empty, you can put a kettle on it, and you can always have hot water, and you don't have to wait for it to boil water temporarily." Xia Hongsheng said to Wang De: "Also, you must pay attention to ventilation, although the smell of this thing is much less than charcoal, but if you are inhaled too much, you will still be poisoned by charcoal, so you must pay attention to ventilation, especially when you sleep at night, you must not close all the doors and windows!" ”

"Thank you, Lord Xia, the old slave has remembered." Wang De gave Xia Hongsheng a salute, and Xia Hongsheng also returned the salute and said that he didn't dare.

As soon as a few coal stoves were set up, the temperature in the room immediately rose, Li Shimin looked around the coal stove in surprise, but heard Xia Hongsheng say again: "Your Majesty, you can have someone spread a thick cloth around the countertop, and then sit next to it, and use this as a case, so that you won't feel cold when you review and review." ”

Li Shimin stretched out his hand to touch the temperature on the countertop, circled around a few times, and nodded with a very satisfied smile: "Not bad, not bad." I just stood next to the coal stove for a while, and my body was already warm, much better than the charcoal pot. ”

Why don't you hurry up and give some reward? It's not too much, just give a few thousand pieces and you can wahahaha!

"Your Majesty, you can also use this as a dining table, put the dishes on this, and you are not afraid of the cold. Moreover, there is another good way to use this coal stove. Xia Hongsheng continued to say to Li Laoer: "Didn't Your Majesty say last time that you want to try Weichen's craftsmanship? Wechen will give His Majesty a hand today! ”

"Oh?" Li Lao Er turned his head to look at Xia Hongsheng and asked, "But it has something to do with the coal stove?" ”

"Yes, you can use the coal stove." Xia Hongsheng nodded.

In order to promote his coal stove, Xia Hongsheng also spared no effort, and even made a hot pot, but instead of putting charcoal, he changed the bottom and directly enlarged the coal stove.

Xia Hongsheng asked Li Lao Er to borrow the imperial kitchen, go inside and cut this one plate, that one plate, and then let it be served. The frightened imperial chef almost knelt on the ground and begged for mercy, these things are all raw!

Xia Hongsheng didn't care about that, and asked the palace maids to bring it up, filling the countertop of the large coal stove.

"Xia Qing, I have been looking forward to Xia Qing's food for a long time, and just now I asked people to call the queen and Qian'er Ke'er Tai'er and Xiangcheng Changle them, and you got me a table of raw food?" Li Lao Er raised his eyebrows, and the expression on his face became a little dangerous.

Xia Hongsheng bowed down and explained: "Your Majesty, don't be impatient, this way of eating is called hot pot, it is to put a hot pot in the middle of the stove, there is seasoning thick soup in the pot to boil, the diners sit around, what kind of food they want to eat, they will pick it up and put it in the pot to eat, it has a different flavor!" ”

"Oh?" Li Laoer's eyes lit up, and he smiled again.

Xia Hongsheng, who saw this appearance, was shocked, it was too familiar, like Li Ke's gentleman?

It seems that Li Lao Er didn't do any less dirty things when he was young! (To be continued.) )