Tibet

Every official in the Helong Jiedu Mansion has his or her own responsibilities. If an official commits serious negligence, supervision will intervene. Li Ye does not want to interfere too much. He just expressed his attitude on issues of principle.

For example, he does not accept the continued rise in food prices. This is his attitude. As for how to do it specifically, the Financial Secretary will consider a prudent method.

As the superior, Li Ye's duty is to promote and appoint outstanding officials. He only cares about people but not things.

But it's not absolute, he will take the initiative to ask about certain things.

After lunch, Li Ye took several senior officials in a carriage to the kerosene factory on the bank of the Yellow River. The kerosene factory was affiliated with the Ordnance Department and specialized in refining kerosene shipped from Yanzhou.

The supervisor of the oil refining was named Qi Kuang, and the official transferred from the Firearms Institute. The deputy supervisor was named Wang Li. He was the eldest son of Wang Laoshan, the proprietor of Weinan Shaochun Pu. Wang Laoshan was the great craftsman of Jiannan Shaochun. After returning to his hometown, Using his skills, he created Weinan Shaochun, which became the first wine in Longyou in one fell swoop.

Jiedu government gave Wang Laoshan an eighth-grade official before he was persuaded. He sent his eldest son to be the technical supervisor. However, there was a major accident at the kerosene factory last month. The distilled kerosene suddenly exploded, causing the fire to explode on the spot. Seventeen people died and more than 20 people were burned. Wang Li, who had just become an eighth-grade official, was burned on the spot.

The government paid Wang Laoshan 2,000 yuan, which was considered a settlement of the case.

Only then did Li Ye realize the dangers of local oil refining, which was extremely prone to flash explosions at room temperature.

With no other choice, Li Ye could only change his mind and change the original fractionation plan to filtration. Although he could not get high-quality gasoline and diesel, at least it was safe.

Today is the first day after the transformation. Li Ye specially brought officials to visit. Everyone wore a mask. The smell inside was very pungent.

Qi Kuang took Li Ye and his entourage to visit the new factory area, "To report back to Your Highness, our refinery is divided into three areas, the warehouse area, the primary storage area and the fine filtration area. The largest area is the primary storage area, covering an area of ​​fifty acres. ,right here!"

Qi Kuang pushed open a door, and two simple greenhouses appeared in front of them, like warehouses. It could also be said that they were warehouses. Oil was transported from Yanzhou and poured directly into the first large pool.

Entering the first greenhouse, there is a large fish pond inside, but it is paved with blue bricks to ensure that it does not leak. It is full of black and sticky oil.

"Your Highness, it is actually a sedimentation area. We built two large pools, high and low, with blue bricks. After the kerosene was transported, it was tipped into the high pool. After settling for ten days, the upper part of the kerosene was released and the remaining sludge and impurities were removed. When you build a house, you can put a layer on the roof to prevent rainwater leakage."

Li Ye nodded. After drying, it is actually asphalt and can be waterproof. Li Ye knew this. Qi Kuang mainly explained it to other officials.

"Then what?" Li Mi asked.

Qi Kuang pointed to the smaller greenhouse and said: "Reporting to Chang Shi, there is a low pool over there. It flows directly from the high pool and is slightly less viscous. Then it is used in the low pool to settle for ten days to get a cleaner result. A little bit of oil is then sent to the fine filtration area!”

Qi Kuang pushed open the door and entered the next area. This is the fine filtration area. There are several large wooden buckets with soldiers standing on them. They pour buckets of kerosene into the large wooden buckets and filter them repeatedly with very fine wire mesh. Finally, pour the kerosene into the hanging cloth bags and let them filter automatically, with wooden barrels underneath.

Liu Yanxiao asked: "How long does it take to filter it in a cloth bag?"

Qi Kuang raised three fingers and said, "It can be filtered in three days and the finished product will be obtained!"

Li Ye scooped up a spoonful of kerosene with a wooden spoon and took a closer look. It was not so viscous at all and seemed to be cooler than the kerosene in Takhanna.

"Find a place to set fire to test!"

"Your Highness, the test area is outside, there can't be any sparks in it."

When everyone came outside, three hundred steps away from the high wall, a soldier poured a bucket of fire oil on the ground and lit it with a torch. Suddenly the flames were blazing and smoke was billowing.

Li Bixiao asked: "We can't understand it, what do you think, Your Highness?"

Li Ye nodded, "Compared to the previous kerosene, both the burning speed and flame height have been slightly improved, but it can only be said to burn a little better."

“But it can already replace the previous oil of burning oil!”

"Yes, it can indeed replace the kerosene in Bukhanna. This solves my worries!"

Next to him, Wang Changling said: "His Royal Highness finally reached an agreement with the court to ensure our stable supply."

Li Ye smiled bitterly and said: "I'm afraid that the imperial court will find out the military value and want a piece of my pie."

Wang Changling hesitated and said: "Your Highness, there is something I have long wanted to say. If we take over the defense of Xiaoguan, there will be no trouble in Yanzhou."

Li Ye nodded slowly, "This is a good suggestion!"

In Chang'an, the governor on duty, Pei Mian, hurriedly came to the official room of Wei Jiansu, the right prime minister.

"Is Wei Xiangguo here?"

Wei Jiansu smiled and said: "Why is Lao Pei here?"

"There is something that feels a little weird to me, and I want to discuss it with you."

"It's cold outside, come in and sit down!"

Pei Mian walked into the room and handed a memorial to Wei Jiansu, "Look at this!"

He sat down in front of the brazier and rubbed his hands to warm himself.

Wei Jiansu looked through the memorial to see if it was from Zhou Zhifang, the governor of Yanzhou, or about Li Ye's control of Yanzhou's petroleum oil.

"I remember he was in a booklet, it must be the same thing!"

"A few months ago, he published a memorial with similar content, but at that time he did not mention the situation of the Guanlong army garrisoning in Yanzhou. This memorial specifically talks about this matter. There were 1,200 river warriors. Long soldiers are stationed in Yanzhou to guard the petroleum oil, and the army is stationed in the state. Wei Xiangguo, this is a very serious matter, and the court does not know about it."

Wei Jiansu said after a while: "The nature is still different from the military garrison in the state. The military garrison in the state means controlling the military and fiscal affairs of a state. He just sends the army to protect the petroleum oil."

Pei Mian snorted and said, "Who knows what his intentions are?"

Wei Jiansu smiled and said, "Let's do this! Let's send people to Yanzhou to find out on site. To be honest, I'm quite curious about this carbolic oil. Li Ye actually sent 1,200 soldiers to guard it. What's the use? "

On New Year's Eve, Li Ye's family worshiped their ancestors as in previous years. This year, there were three more people: the mother Pei Sanniang, the three-year-old eldest daughter Xingsha, and Dugu Taiwei.

However, Dugu Taiwei is not a member of the Li family, she is a guest, and she helped temporarily serve as the host of the ceremony.

After the sacrifice, Li Ye went back to his room to wash his feet with hot water. Dugu Xinyue knelt down to wipe his feet and said: "Qiming finally became the crown prince's partial concubine, and now she is a widow. I heard Taiwei say that she and the queen The relationship is good, but I’m a little worried.”

Li Ye was startled, "How does Taiwei know?"

"Qiming said it himself! At the beginning of the year, Qiming went back to her parents' home to visit relatives and lived with Taiwei. You know that Qiming has a bad habit and likes to show off. She showed off to Taiwei how she had a good relationship with the queen without even using it. If you report, you can go directly to Queen Zhang’s room.”

Li Ye frowned. He thought of Qiming's performance during the memorial ceremony for the prince. She had clearly eavesdropped on his conversation with Crown Princess Shen Zhenzhu. Will she tell Empress Zhang about this?

Thinking of this, Li Ye said to his wife: "Empress Zhang is not a kind person, but also a cruel and ruthless woman. She is probably taking advantage of Qiming. I think Qiming is a bit stupid. I'd better say hello to my third uncle about this matter and let him pay attention to it." , Don’t let the Lonely Family fall on Qiming.”

Xinyue was startled, "Will it?"

Li Ye nodded, "Queen Zhang actually colluded with the Eunuch Party. The wealth of the Dugu family has always made many people jealous, including the Eunuch Party. If Qiming is used by Queen Zhang and finds some evidence, the Eunuch Party will Attack the Dugu family, believe me, what I can feel is definitely not unfounded!"

Xinyue said quickly: "I believe in you, husband. I will ask you to send an eagle letter to your third uncle tomorrow!"