The big man has a living father

Chapter 34 Imperial Coal Factory

The Wei Qing in Huo Hai's memory is the short man in Huang Xiaoming's version, but the real Wei Qing is tall and broad with a strong appearance. He looks to be in his thirties, with a muscular body and a pot belly.

A fat-packed muscular man.

At first glance, it looks like he can bench press 200 kilograms.

Huo Hai had been in Chang'an for a long time and heard a lot of news about the family affairs of the nobles, including Wei Qing.

People say that Wei Qing's father was a horse breeder, but that's not true.

Wei Qing's father was also from Pingyang County. His name was Zheng Ji. His family was different from the Huo family. His family had a certain influence in that area, and his father had a title. Of course, it was only the sixth-rank title of a doctor, which was far from the twentieth-rank title of a marquis.

But outsiders said that Wei Qing's father was a horse breeder, but Wei Qing didn't care at all.

First, he was the result of his mother's affair.

Second, Wei Qing was not liked and well-received by the Zheng family when he was a child.

Wei Qing himself used to be a horse breeder, so when others said that his father was a horse breeder, Wei Qing had no opinion at all and even said something like, "Well done."

Because he hated his father so much, he was called a bastard when others called him. Whenever he thought of his father, he became a bastard and so he clapped his hands to celebrate.

But after all, he was a family relative. Although Huo Hai did not visit him, he did not discuss Wei Qing's affairs either.

At this time, Wei Qing bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I am late."

Liu Che waved his hand: "How is your sister?"

Wei Qing shook his head: "I've already fallen asleep, but my blocked nose is very uncomfortable."

Liu Che: "What did the doctor say?"

Wei Qing: "The doctor said that she just caught a cold, probably because she didn't warm herself by the fire in the past two days."

In the palace, there are three ways to keep warm.

The first type is called the temperature-regulating hall. There is a hollow wall behind the temperature-regulating hall. When fire is burned inside, the inside of the wall will be warm. This is actually a fire wall.

However, the temperature-control hall was used to store books. Liu Che only went back to this place to read sometimes, and it was not used for living.

Moreover, this place is hot and dry all year round and is not suitable for living. It is only suitable for receiving princes and foreign guests in winter.

The second type is called a fireplace. There are currently four large fireplaces in the entire palace.

The fireplace looks beautiful, but it is actually useless because the palace is too big and it will be useless when people walk away.

The third is the stove.

The stove is too small, so I can only put it in front of me to warm my hands, but it is very difficult to warm a fire.

If you really want to keep warm, you should put a fire pot.

Burn charcoal in the brazier and it will keep you warm in the room.

But the problem is that charcoal burning requires ventilation, and ventilation means that palace maids and eunuchs have to wear thicker and more clothes. This is completely different from burning charcoal in ordinary households. The cost of burning charcoal in the palace is enormous.

So, during this period of time, Wei Zifu did not burn charcoal.

As a result, cold air moved south in the past two days, causing a sharp drop in temperature, and Wei Zifu caught a cold.

Liu Che frowned: "This matter is difficult to handle."

"Even the royal family members are freezing cold, it looks like this will be a severe winter, so what should the common people do?"

In fact, Liu Che didn't care about the people at all, or he knew that the people had no choice but to resist, so he just paid lip service to his concern. He was more worried about the newly relocated population. There were only 40,000 people, and they encountered a cold winter and had no way to keep warm. What if a large number of them froze to death?
In fact, Liu Che had already chosen a destination for King Hunxie's people long ago.

They came from the Hexi Corridor, from Longxi. Liu Che planned to arrange for them to go to Wuyuan and other places in Shuofang County.

The reason why they were asked to come to the vicinity of Chang'an was because it would cost the least to transport them there by water.

But there weren't enough houses for them to live in near Gyeonggi, so they had to live in tents.

But the problem is that there is no cow dung to burn in Chang'an. What should we do if these Huns freeze to death?
Or do I have to shell out a large sum of money to buy firewood for them?

If that's the case, there won't be enough money to continue the war next year.

Liu Che was a little conflicted, so he sighed.

The ministers also sighed.

But this did not affect the group of people's carnival.

Huo Hai was eating by himself, but captains and generals kept coming up to him to ask for a drink.

Huo Hai thought they were just doing it for his elder brother's sake, but he didn't expect them to say they had read his article.

Huo Hai didn't believe it.

As a result, these people were really good at reciting. They could even remember "Fu on Afang Palace" and "Fu on the Goddess of Luo River".

After three rounds of drinking, Wang Nei Shi came up to him and said, "Master Huo, His Majesty invites you."

Huo Hai stood up and walked over.

Sitting at the front seat, Liu Che had no appetite and was just picking at the plate with his chopsticks.

If this happened to an ordinary person with a naughty child, he would definitely be beaten.

Huo Hai walked to the table, and Liu Che waved and pointed at the cushion beside him: "Come and sit down."

Sit down, isn't this called kneeling? Huo Hai sat down on the mat on the ground.

Liu Che didn't care, but asked: "I heard that you told Cao Xiang that there are three strategies to pacify the Xiongnu?"

Huo Hai nodded.

Liu Che did not go into the topic further: "You said before that you would let some of the Xiongnu women stay for you to raise cattle and sheep, but what about their men? You can't ask me to separate them."

"But with so many young men staying in Gyeonggi, it's impossible for them to have nothing to do."

"So we have to select some Huns to raise cattle and sheep for you, but we can't distinguish between males and females."

Huo Hai: "Your Majesty, the Xiongnu women should be given to me... to us. Your Majesty, you are the major shareholder of our farm. They will raise cattle and sheep for us, and the men will be sent to mine coal."

Liu Che was suspicious: "Why dig coal?"

Huo Hai: "Burn it."

Liu Che thought for a moment and asked, "What kind of business do you want to start that requires a lot of water?"

Huo Hai smiled: "It's not boiling water, it's making steel."

Liu Che said sternly: "I seem to have issued an imperial decree that private iron smelting is not allowed, otherwise you will be beheaded. You are really not afraid of death, right?"

Huo Hai said sternly: "Your Majesty, please don't talk nonsense. I didn't make iron, I made steel."

Liu Che: "You said that adjusting the ratio of carbon in iron will make steel."

Huo Hai: "Your Majesty, you can't say that heavy snow means heavy rain, right?"

Liu Che smiled and said, "All the iron in the world belongs to me, and the steel you made..."

Huo Hai immediately stopped Liu Che from making money and made a promise: "Your Majesty, after my steel is refined, it will allow Your Majesty to earn more than 10 billion yuan a year! Of course, it is not from the profit from selling steel, but the things made with steel can help Your Majesty make money."

Liu Che shook his head: "I want to see how much money you can make. I heard that you have recruited a group of strange retainers, and you are working behind closed doors in Huo's mansion every day... working on salt? I repeat, the salt must not be touched."

"Your Majesty, did you hear me wrong?" Huo Hai said, "We are doing experiments, not salt. I don't even think highly of your crude salt. Experiments mean actual testing. We come up with some ideas, some methods, some solutions to problems, and then actually implement them to see if they are really effective."

Huo Hai continued to make big promises: "Your Majesty, all the experiments I conduct are experiments that can make money!"

Liu Che: "So what Zhao Guo and his men did is called an experiment...Okay, let's go ahead and do it."

Zhao Guo? The young official who came to announce the imperial edict today? What kind of experiment? Huo Hai did not delve into it, but was very happy to get the permission.

If white paper had not been selling like hot cakes recently, how could Liu Che be so confident in letting Huo Hai do it?

The white paper for a book costs less than twenty cents, but it sells for as much as eight hundred!

Almost all profit.

The key point is that half of it was taken away by Princess Wei Chang.

Princess Wei Chang actually held the shares on behalf of Emperor Liu Che.

Huo Hai also said that he would make a lot of money from the new breeding farm.

Liu Che just wanted to see how many projects could make money so that he could promote them across the country and really make a lot of money.

……

The banquet was over, and Liu Che was going to see Wei Zifu. As the carriage moved forward, Wang, the eunuch, added charcoal to the brazier and said, "Your Majesty, the queen has caught a cold. Your Majesty, you must not catch a cold again."

Liu Che waved his hand: "I am in much better health, no."

"Is there anything interesting happening in Chang'an today?"

Wang the eunuch shook his head and said, "There was an interesting thing at the palace gate today."

"Huo Hai's retainers actually burned coal in a carriage with the door closed. That coal is not charcoal, it is poisonous. But his retainers were fine. It's amazing."

Liu Che immediately sat up straight: "Burning coal?!"

Wang Nei Shi nodded: "Yes."

Liu Che: "In a sealed carriage? Not poisoned?!"

Wang Nei Shi: "Yes, Your Majesty!"

Liu Che: "Damn! This little bastard..."

It seems that it is not steel that makes money, but coal!

Liu Che calculated that tens of thousands of Huns would burn and eat billions of coins this winter, which was a quarter's salt and iron tax! Moreover, their consumption was so great that the charcoal-burning merchants could cut down all the nearby mountains.

Now Liu Che knows how to save this money and even make some money!

Liu Che thought for a moment and said, "The General of the Cavalry has made great achievements recently. He will definitely hold a grand banquet to entertain guests when he returns. Let's go to the Huo Mansion to eat for free tomorrow."

Wang Nei Shi bowed his head: "Yes, Your Majesty."

----

Thanks to my book friend gesaka for the tip. I have already received six tips. I am so happy!

Please support me by monthly ticket, recommendation ticket and collection!

By the way, a book club has been established. In the author’s words, you are welcome to join the group chat!

(End of this chapter)