The Rise of the European Emperor

Zhang Cai himself didn't have many evil deeds, but during his tenure as Minister of the Ministry of Officials, he cooperated with Liu Jin and got stuck in the official hat of others, so enemies were everywhere.

For officials, blocking someone's future is tantamount to killing their parents. Therefore, even though Zhang Cai is only doing things for Liu Jin, Ke La's hatred is definitely not small. At the beginning, Liu Jin used the hat of Zhang Caicard and hundreds of officials, and then forced them to send money, each at least a thousand taels, or even a few thousand taels. In order to give gifts to Liu Jin, many officials even had to borrow usury loans.

But because Liu Jin cleverly made a fake account book, he dedicated all the money to Zhengde, so Zhengde spared Liu Jin's life and sent him to Nanjing to guard the Xiaoling Tomb of the Ming Dynasty. As soon as Liu Jin left, the officials who had been bullied by him suddenly had no one to vent their anger on. Therefore, all of Liu Jin's party members suffered disaster.

Cao Yuan, who had already joined the cabinet, was forced to resign. But the officials did not let him go. In the end, Cao Yuan was double fired, and he no longer enjoyed the state-level treatment of retired deputy, but directly became a commoner. Even the scholar's treatment of Jinshi was cancelled.

In addition to Cao Yuan, Shi Wenyi, the commander of Jinyiwei who once clinged to Liu Jin, was also arrested. This guy was unlucky, Jinyiwei was a department that couldn't stand the investigation, and Shi Wenyi helped Liu Jin do a lot of dirty work. Therefore, this guy was the most unlucky and was executed directly.

In addition, Jiao Fang, a former cabinet scholar who has retired, was also held accountable, and the retirement benefits of deputy national level were cancelled.

There is also a man named Liu Yu who has also been in the cabinet. Although he has only been a cabinet veteran for a few months, he can be regarded as retired with deputy state-level treatment. However, during this liquidation, Liu Yu's retirement benefits were also cancelled. It should be pointed out that Liu Yu was the first person to bribe Liu Jin with tens of thousands of gold, which aroused Liu Jin's appetite. Before Liu Yu bribed Liu Jin, the bribes Liu Jin accepted were usually only a few hundred taels. With Liu Yu's bribe as a model, Liu Jin raised the price later... And as the first person to bribe Liu Jin ten thousand gold, Liu Yu's position also skyrocketed, and he paid off before retiring An old man's addiction... But when Liu Jin fell, his old man's treatment disappeared...

But Zhang Cai is the most hated person in Liu Jin's party. Who told him to be the specific person in charge of Liu Jinka's neck? But after the investigation, the officials were surprised to find that Zhang Cai herself had no flaws...except for asking for a beautiful concubine twice, she had no bad deeds...Moreover, asking for a beautiful concubine was also common in ancient times. no sin...

Therefore, now all the officials grit their teeth with hatred for Zhang Cai, but they can't find any evidence to exile his whole family. They can only use the charge of "climbing to the eunuch party" to search his home first, and cancel his retirement benefits for senior officials and scholars. identity……

However, during this period of time, there were still loud voices in the court demanding that Zhang Cai's family be exiled to Lingnan. It's just that I couldn't find a suitable reason for a while.

...

In fact, Zhengde also knew that Zhang Cai was the most talented official under Liu Jin.

His talent surpassed that of most courtiers. However, Zhang Cai is currently being beaten by everyone in the court, even Zhengde can't speak for him, otherwise he will definitely be beaten back by the officials.

However, let Ma Lin, a fanyi, poach Zhang Cai away, Zhengde is also unwilling...

"Ma Aiqing, Zhang Cai is also considered a talented person, so I just give it to you for nothing, I am not willing..." The young Zhengde said very bluntly.

Marin chuckled and said:

"Your Majesty, I won't let you suffer this time!"

"Oh? Why don't you let me suffer?" Zhengde asked curiously.

"Honeycomb!" Marin simply said three words.

...

In fact, letting briquettes come out in the Ming Dynasty was something Marin had already considered. At the beginning, Marin used means to exchange a large area of ​​land in the Ruhr area from John II, Duke of Cliff. Then, they seized the territory of the Ruhr area such as Recklinghausen. Its purpose is for the coal in the Ruhr area.

But after obtaining most of the territory of the Ruhr area, Marin did not dare to come up with briquette technology all at once. Otherwise, John II and others will definitely regret it. Moreover, John II was an ally of Marin. If the briquette technology is taken out too early, it will give people the impression of pitting teammates. In this era of chaotic battles, the notoriety of cheating teammates is unacceptable.

Therefore, Marin had planned a long time ago - under the guise of going to the Ming Dynasty, let the briquette technology appear. In this way, everyone has nothing to say. You see, I also went to the Ming Dynasty to know that there is briquette technology. I don’t really want to cheat you...

But in fact, briquette technology is a technology that only appeared in the 20th century. It was invented by Guo Wende in Dezhou, Shandong in 1949. This invention is very inconspicuous, but in the second half of the 20th century, almost most urban residents used briquettes for cooking, and the number of beneficiaries was hundreds of millions...

Therefore, now Daming Industry does not have briquette technology. Marin's plan is to provide the briquette technology to the Ming Dynasty first, and then pretend that he has learned the technology from here...

And the person Marin wants to provide technology to is naturally Emperor Zhengde...

...

But Emperor Zhengde didn't understand the value of briquettes. Seeing the small briquette stove in front of him, Emperor Zhengde asked curiously:

"Ma Aiqing, what is this? Is this thing worth a prize?" Zhengde had an expression of "you are kidding me".

Marin did not answer directly, but asked rhetorically:

"Your Majesty, do you know how much firewood is needed to cook a meal?"

Zhengde shook his head, he was born in the court, how did he know this?

Marin had no choice but to answer by himself:

"It takes a bundle of firewood to cook one meal, and a large bundle of firewood is needed for three meals a day. Even if it is transported with a cart, a load of firewood can't be burned for a few days."

Then, Marin pointed to the briquette stove and said:

"But this kind of briquette, as long as it is three yuan, can be burned for a day if you save it. And the briquette transported by a small cart can be burned for a month..."

"The price..."

"I inquired about it. The cost of coal is about 1 penny a catty, while a piece of honeycomb coal is more than two catties, and three pieces of honeycomb coal are less than six or seven catties, which is only a few pennies. But three pieces of honeycomb coal can satisfy a family for cooking. for water."

"Besides, briquettes don't take up much space. The emperor should know that now every household has a special firewood shed filled with firewood. If briquettes are used, they don't necessarily need a firewood shed, just pile them in the corner of the kitchen... ..."

"That's a great thing..." Zhengde nodded. In ancient times, there was a saying that "living in Chang'an is not easy". The housing of poor people is limited, but it is really wasteful to have to vacate a room for firewood. In addition, to buy so much firewood, the cost of the porters who transport the firewood is not low.

According to historical records, during the Tang Dynasty, Chang'an consumed 550 kilograms of firewood per capita, equivalent to 1.5 kilograms per day, or three catties. A family of five consumes 15 catties of firewood every day...

But the price of firewood is higher than that of coal. Marin went to the market to find out that firewood costs 160 Wen per hundred catties, which is 1.6 Wen per catty. Charcoal is more expensive, at 480 Wen per 100 catties, or 4.8 Wen per catty. Straw is a bit cheaper, but also slightly more expensive than coal...

Moreover, 80% of briquettes are coal, and 20% are yellow mud and water. 3 pieces of briquettes weigh 7.5 catties, but actually only 6 catties of coal...

6 catties of coal compared to 15 catties of firewood, and the unit price of firewood is higher than that of coal...

Not only that, but you don’t need to prepare a firewood room for cooking with briquettes...

No matter how you calculate it, it is a great deal to use honeycomb coal...