My father is Chongzhen? Then I have no choice but to rebel.

Chapter 241 The current Crown Prince is actually no different from the Emperor!

Immediately afterward, just when Ni Yuanlu and Li Banghua thought the matter was settled, Zhu Cilang suddenly spoke again, asking:
"Do you two know how much a pound of coal costs on the market these days?"

Upon hearing this, Ni Yuanlu and Li Banghua exchanged bewildered glances.

Because they really didn't know the price of coal.

Firstly, they were in high positions and didn't need to concern themselves with such trivial matters; secondly, the mining and sale of coal had always been the responsibility of the Ministry of Works.

Thinking of this, the two had no choice but to bite the bullet and say:

"Your Highness, this old minister is unaware, as this matter falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Works!"

Zhu Cilang nodded, not paying any attention.

Then he added:

"Forget it, I will discuss this matter with the Minister of Works. You two don't need to worry about it. After returning today, let's begin preparations for transporting the cotton to Liaodong and the Nine Garrisons!"

Ni Yuanlu and Li Banghua quickly cupped their hands again and said:

"Your Highness, rest assured, I will handle this matter immediately upon my return!"

Zhu Cilang said no more, but simply waved his hand, signaling the two old ministers to leave.

Ni Yuanlu and Li Banghua then left.

After leaving the palace, the two subconsciously looked at each other. In the instant their eyes met, it was as if a tacit understanding flashed, and then they both laughed at the same time.

Laughter echoed softly in the corridors outside the palace, carrying a sense of relief and ease.

Upon closer examination, there was actually no irreconcilable conflict between them, let alone any deep-seated hatred.

The previous heated debate about cotton was simply due to the different positions and perspectives on the issue.

Li Banghua was concerned with the important matter of border security. He knew that if the soldiers did not have enough cotton to keep warm in the harsh winter, it would be a luxury for them to get through the winter smoothly.

If too many people die or are injured due to the cold during the winter, morale will surely waver.

This undoubtedly poses a huge hidden danger to the border defense of the Ming Dynasty.

Ni Yuanlu, on the other hand, was concerned about the stability of the capital. After all, it was important for the border troops to get through the winter, but it was equally important for the Beijing garrison and the troops stationed around the capital to get through the winter.

In short, their views are all quite reasonable, and they are all wholeheartedly devoted to the Ming Dynasty's stability and prosperity.

Then, Li Banghua bowed slightly and said sincerely:

"Lord Ni, please forgive my rudeness just now."

Ni Yuanlu quickly waved her hand, responding with a gentle smile:

"Lord Li, you are too kind. I have also made many oversights in my previous work. I hope you will not take offense."

As they spoke, the two smiled with relief.

Immediately, Li Banghua couldn't help but sigh softly, his expression tinged with emotion as he said:

"It's truly unexpected that His Highness the Crown Prince could solve such a thorny problem as cotton so easily."

Upon hearing this, Ni Yuanlu's heart was also filled with turbulent emotions.

He nodded slightly, his eyes filled with admiration, and said:
"Yes, you know, I racked my brains over this matter before, thinking about it for a long time but I still couldn't come up with a proper solution."

"I didn't expect His Highness the Crown Prince to solve this complicated problem with just a few words."

"I must say, the Crown Prince's intelligence is something I have never heard of or seen in my life."

As Ni Yuanlu spoke, her thoughts seemed to drift back to Zhu Cilang's previous series of measures, such as reforming commercial taxes, merging land tax with poll tax, and requiring gentry to pay taxes together.

All of this combined made him admire Zhu Cilang even more, feeling that this young crown prince was truly too intelligent!
And wasn't Li Banghua, who was standing to the side, the same way?
He immediately thought of the imperial edict that had transferred him from Nanjing to the capital, and began to ponder it in his heart.

Before this, he had always believed that the imperial edict must have been issued by Emperor Chongzhen.

But now that I think about it carefully, that imperial edict was probably not issued by Emperor Chongzhen, but by Zhu Cilang.

According to common sense, if it was an imperial edict issued by Emperor Chongzhen, Chongzhen would definitely summon him privately after he arrived in the capital to discuss many matters.

However, even though he had been in the capital for almost half a year, Emperor Chongzhen had never summoned him alone even once.

This is enough to show that Emperor Chongzhen was unaware of this matter at the beginning.

As Li Banghua thought about it, a chill ran down his spine.

How could a crown prince, without the emperor's knowledge, transfer a Minister of War from Nanjing to the capital? What was the deeper meaning behind this?
Li Banghua dared not think any further.

Because if you think about it any further, it could become associated with rebellion.
Fortunately, the situation in the Ming Dynasty is improving, and if this trend continues, the revival of the Ming Dynasty may be just around the corner!

Thinking of this, Li Banghua's expression softened considerably.

Then, the two walked away talking and laughing, their figures gradually disappearing at the end of the corridor.

Meanwhile, inside the palace, Zhu Cilang was also pondering some things.

A moment later, he summoned Ma Bao and instructed him:
"Go to the Ministry of Works immediately and convey my oral decree that the Minister of Works, Zhou Shipu, should come to see me."

After a pause, he continued:
"After you go, give him a heads-up beforehand and tell him that I want to inquire about coal, so that he can prepare accordingly."

Upon hearing this, Ma Bao quickly agreed:

"Your Highness, rest assured, this servant will certainly deliver the message!"

After saying this, Ma Bao left like a gust of wind.

While waiting for the arrival of Zhou Shipu, the Minister of Works, Zhu Cilang was not idle.

Instead, he strolled over to the imperial desk and sat down directly.

On the imperial desk, the writing brush, ink, paper, and inkstone were neatly arranged. Zhu Cilang casually picked up a sheet of Xuan paper and placed it on the table.

Then he picked up the brush and slowly dipped the tip into the ink.

After a moment's thought, the images of those items gradually appeared in Zhu Cilang's mind. Then, he exerted a little force with his wrist and began to paint on the rice paper.

Before long, what he was writing gradually took shape.

Upon closer inspection, it was clear that there were three items.

One of them is a honeycomb briquette stove that is common in later generations. The stove has smooth outlines, and Zhu Cilang has meticulously depicted the stove opening, body, legs and other parts.

The side also details some points to note.

Another item is the mold for making honeycomb briquettes, with uniformly sized and neatly arranged holes.

The last one is a special clamp for holding honeycomb briquettes.

That's right, Zhu Cilang is now planning to make honeycomb briquettes.

He knew very well that simply keeping people warm was far from enough to help them get through the winter; proper heating measures were equally important.

During the Ming Dynasty, heating supplies were extremely limited, consisting mainly of coal, charcoal, wood, and straw.

However, this is the capital city, and as far as Zhu Cilang knows, logging indiscriminately has long been prohibited around the capital.

As a result, ordinary people have very little fuel available for heating.

Although Zhu Cilang was not very clear about the current price of coal on the market, he could guess that the price was probably beyond the reach of ordinary people.

Therefore, developing a cheap fuel has become an urgent priority.

Honeycomb briquettes are undoubtedly the best choice.

The main raw material for honeycomb briquettes is actually some coal ash that cannot be fully burned, plus some clay and combustion aids, such as lime or wood ash, and water. These things are mixed together to make them.

These raw materials are not worth much, but when combined into honeycomb briquettes, they can burn completely, and their combustion effect is even better than that of ordinary charcoal.

With a special honeycomb briquette stove, it's no exaggeration to say that two honeycomb briquettes are enough to meet the needs of a family to cook a meal.

Of course, the most important thing is that these honeycomb briquettes are inexpensive, so even ordinary people can afford them.

Making honeycomb briquettes is practically an essential skill for every time traveler.

However, most other time travelers were probably after money, but Zhu Cilang had no such intentions. He just wanted to improve the lives of the people as much as possible so that they wouldn't freeze to death in the winter.

So even if this thing is manufactured, he doesn't intend to use it to make money.

Breaking even is enough.

Or he could sell at a loss, since he's not short of money right now.

After finishing drawing these three things, Zhu Cilang frowned slightly and pondered for a moment.

Then, he spread out another sheet of Xuan paper and wrote down all the ingredients needed to make honeycomb briquettes.

It's nothing more than coal ash, clay, lime, wood ash, water, and so on.

After finishing writing, he gently put down his brush, summoned a member of the Imperial Guard, handed him the two sheets of paper, and instructed him with a firm gaze:
"You must prepare these materials as soon as possible, and once they are ready, send them directly to the East Palace without fail."

Then, he took out a drawing of a honeycomb briquette mold and said:

"Send this blueprint to the Ministry of Works and have them build it as soon as possible. Tell them that I need it urgently and there is no time to lose."

The Imperial Guard took the paper and drawings. Although he didn't recognize what was drawn on them, he dared not slack off in the slightest since it was Zhu Cilang's order.
He then said respectfully:

"My minister obeys."

He then turned and quickly retreated, busying himself with preparations.

At this moment, the palace fell completely silent. Zhu Cilang sat quietly at his desk, patiently waiting for the Minister of Works to arrive.

His eyes were calm and deep, as if he were contemplating the many matters to come.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Works.

After leaving court, Zhou Shipu, the Minister of Works, hurriedly returned to the Ministry of Works.

Inside the government office, people came and went, creating a bustling scene.

Among the six ministries, the Ministry of Works was undoubtedly the most demanding, as it was in charge of all engineering projects in the country, from the construction of palaces and pavilions to the repair of ordinary people's houses, handling everything big and small, which was extremely complicated.

As usual, Zhou Shipu was focused on reviewing the budgets for building houses in various places next month, his brush pen occasionally circling and annotating on the paper.

Suddenly, at that moment, an official rushed in, panting, and said:

"My lord, someone from the Crown Prince's Palace has arrived!"

what?
Upon hearing this, Zhou Shipu was startled and almost dropped the brush in his hand.

He quickly stood up, straightened his official robes, and strode towards the door. Immediately afterward, he saw a young eunuch, who looked about thirteen or fourteen years old, walk in.

Although the young eunuch was small and thin with a youthful face, his eyes revealed a hint of cleverness; he was none other than Ma Bao.

Zhou Shipu did not know Ma Bao before. In the past, he mainly dealt with the high-ranking eunuchs in the palace, such as Wang Chengen and Fang Zhenghua.

However, ever since Zhu Cilang came to power, Zhou Shipu began to pay attention to the people around Zhu Cilang, including the eunuch Ma Bao.

So when Zhou Shipu saw Ma Bao, he quickly greeted him with a big smile and said warmly:

"Young eunuch, what brings you here? Does His Highness the Crown Prince have any instructions?"

Ma Bao was somewhat taken aback by Zhou Shipu's enthusiastic gestures. After all, he was just a lowly eunuch, while the man in front of him was the Minister of Works, a man of great power and influence.

Unfortunately, Ma Bao was still too young; he had no idea that his current identity was equivalent to Wang Chengen, who served Emperor Chongzhen.

Given time, he will surely become a powerful eunuch like Wang Chengen.

Wang Chengen, even in front of cabinet ministers, was always neither humble nor arrogant.

Ultimately, it's because Ma Bao is too young and hasn't truly matured yet.

However, Ma Bao was immature, but Zhou Shipu certainly couldn't be immature, so he still chose to treat Ma Bao with such enthusiasm, wanting to build a good relationship with him in advance.

Immediately afterward, before Ma Bao could speak, Zhou Shipu invited Ma Bao into his office.

Logically speaking, Ma Bao should have read Zhu Cilang's words aloud and then sent Zhou Shipu to the palace immediately.

However, Zhu Cilang had specifically instructed Ma Bao that he wanted to inquire about coal, so Ma Bao felt that Zhou Shipu should prepare in advance and look up relevant information.

Otherwise, if they were to meet the Crown Prince and he asked them questions that Zhou Shipu couldn't answer, Zhou Shipu would lose face, and Zhou Shipu himself would also look bad.

After entering the room, just as Zhou Shipu was about to instruct the servants to prepare tea, Ma Bao waved his hand and said:

"Minister Zhou, there's no need to prepare tea. The Crown Prince instructed me that he wants to see you."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Shipu quickly said:

"In that case, let's go now. Please lead the way, young eunuch."

After saying this, Zhou Shipu immediately turned to leave.

But at that moment, he couldn't help but feel a little resentful towards the little eunuch Ma Bao. Why didn't he just state his purpose directly? If he had, they could have set off long ago.

But the next second, Ma Bao suddenly said:

"Minister Zhou, there's no need to rush. The Crown Prince said he wants to ask you some questions about coal."

"So, I was thinking, shouldn't you make some preparations first?"

"Otherwise, when you meet the Crown Prince and he asks you questions, it won't be good if you can't answer them."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Shipu was slightly taken aback, and his expression instantly became serious.

Then, he suddenly looked at the little eunuch in front of him with new respect.

Because he really hadn't paid much attention to anything related to coal.

If Ma Bao hadn't reminded him earlier, he really wouldn't have been able to give a coherent answer when he met the Crown Prince later.

Thinking of this, Zhou Shipu couldn't help but break out in a few beads of cold sweat on his forehead.

He knew all too well that the current crown prince was practically no different from the emperor, since the emperor was obsessed with cultivating immortality and seeking the Dao, while the crown prince was the de facto ruler.

If he loses face in front of the Crown Prince, his career will be ruined.

Thinking of this, Zhou Shipu quickly wiped the sweat from his brow and then said to Ma Bao:

"Thank you for the reminder, young eunuch. Please have a cup of tea first. I will go and look up some information before I come to the palace with you."

Ma Bao nodded, and then said nothing more.

Immediately, Zhou Shipu hurriedly ordered someone to send over all the coal-related information for this year.

He sat in the chair, quickly flipped through the documents, and then selected some important ones to put together, intending to bring them with him when he went to see Zhu Cilang later.

About fifteen minutes later, Zhou Shipu stood up and looked at Ma Bao, saying:
"Young Master, everything is ready here. We can proceed to the palace."

Ma Bao nodded, and then the two went to the palace together.

Throughout the journey, Zhou Shipu kept reviewing the information he had just consulted, fearing that he might make a mistake in front of the Crown Prince.

Before long, Zhou Shipu arrived in front of Zhu Cilang.

He bowed slightly and said respectfully:
"Zhou Shipu, Minister of Works, pays respects to His Highness the Crown Prince!"

After saying this, he bowed deeply.

Zhu Cilang, with a gentle expression, raised his hand and waved lightly, signaling a eunuch to bring over a chair.

The young eunuch moved swiftly and quickly arranged the chairs properly.

"Minister Zhou, sit down and let's talk!"

Zhou Shipu did not refuse too much and sat down generously, showing his composure.

Zhu Cilang looked directly at Zhou Shipu and asked directly:
"Minister Zhou, you should already know why I summoned you here, right?"

Zhou Shipu nodded quickly, responding with a respectful expression:
"This old minister knows. The young eunuch just reminded you that Your Highness wants to inquire about coal."

Zhu Cilang nodded slightly and continued:

"If that's the case, then I'll ask you, how much coal did the entire capital consume last year?"

Zhou Shipu was prepared and replied without hesitation:

"Your Highness, last year, the capital city consumed approximately 200 million catties of coal. If we add charcoal, the figure would be an additional 3 million catties."

Two hundred million jin, or two hundred million jin, which translates to about 120,000 tons.

At first glance, this number seems quite considerable.

But you should know that the population of Beijing is now as high as 1.2 million.

If calculated this way, the average daily coal consumption per person is less than half a pound.

Moreover, half of this coal was used in the inner palace, various government offices, and handicraft production.

The amount that actually reaches ordinary people is pitifully small.

Zhu Cilang frowned slightly after hearing these words, seemingly lost in thought for a moment.

After a moment, he asked again:
"How much does a pound of coal cost on the market these days?"

Zhou Shipu hurriedly replied:
"Your Highness, there are many types of coal, which can be roughly divided into coal for the imperial court and coal for civilian use."

"The coal used by the imperial court was mainly supplied to the palace and various government offices. This coal was of high quality and relatively expensive, generally around 20 wen per jin."

“The price of coal used by ordinary people is relatively low, about ten coins per kilogram.”

"In addition, most of this coal comes from the Jingxi Coal Mine, while the coal used by the public mostly comes from some private mines nearby."

Zhu Cilang listened quietly to Zhou Shipu's answer, but did not speak immediately. Instead, he lowered his head and pondered.

Nowadays, the price of rice in the market is about 20 wen per jin (500g), but I didn't expect that the price of ordinary coal has also risen to 10 wen per jin.

Based on this calculation, one pound of coal can be exchanged for almost half a pound of rice.

But you should know that ordinary people probably can't earn thirty coins even after a hard day's work.

If a family wants to get through the winter smoothly, they need at least two kilograms of coal every day.

One can only imagine how difficult winter must be for ordinary people in the capital.

As for the situation at the Jingxi Coal Mine, Zhu Cilang actually had some knowledge of it.

He knew that this coal mine was still being mined even more than four hundred years later.

Even if it is eventually shut down, it will not be because of the depletion of coal resources, but because of environmental considerations.

This means that even if mining continues at a high pace now, this coal mine can maintain its supply for nearly four hundred years.

Therefore, there should be no problem with the availability of coal.

As for whether the coal will be exhausted in four hundred years, that is obviously not something Zhu Cilang needs to worry about at this moment.

He knew that in less than four hundred years, new energy sources would be developed, and people would no longer need to rely on coal as their primary fuel.

After a brief pause, Zhu Cilang directly raised the question that concerned him most:

"So, how much does one pound of crushed coal ash cost?"

The so-called coal ash is the fine particles produced when mining coal, and it is also a key material for making honeycomb briquettes.

However, when he heard this question, Zhou Shipu's mind went blank for a moment, and he was completely stunned.

He originally thought he knew everything about coal, after all, Zhu Cilang had asked about coal, and he had gone through almost all the information about coal.

But he never expected that Zhu Cilang would ask about the price of coal ash.

He had never actually paid attention to the price of this coal ash.

Because the imperial court had never sold coal ash, the coal ash produced was usually just discarded aside for ordinary people to use.

After all, this stuff produces too much dust when burned, and it doesn't burn as thoroughly as normal coal.

But when the Crown Prince asked him a question, he couldn't refuse to answer.

Left with no other choice, Zhou Shipu could only bite the bullet and say:

"Your Highness, there has never been any sale of crushed coal ash in the court or on the market, so I truly do not know its price."

"Usually, this coal ash is either thrown away or given to ordinary people as fuel."

It turned out to be the case.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Cilang nodded thoughtfully.

In his view, the fact that coal ash was worthless was actually a good thing.

Low value means low cost, and low cost allows for mass production, thus making it accessible to all people.

(End of this chapter)