Chronicles of the Qin Dynasty

Chapter 163, Section 162: Bituminous Coal is Now Available
At dusk, King Heng of Qin's carriage returned to Xianyang Palace in a grand procession from Shanglin Garden.

At this moment, the sky was filled with rosy clouds, and the eaves of the palaces were adorned with clusters of brilliant golden rays. Ji Heng sat in the carriage, looking quite pleased with himself.

He was skilled in both literature and martial arts, and exceptionally brave. Every morning, he would go to the training ground to practice for one or two hours before stopping.

However, the Xianyang Palace was small, so running around was not very smooth.

Having spent the day at Shanglin Garden, and with the weather turning cool and the sun not blazing, we rode our horses at full gallop and had a very fruitful day.

Therefore, although I have to sit in a carriage for safety reasons, I am still in a good mood.

There was only one point: "It's not autumn yet, and the summer heat has just passed. All the furs are rough and messy, which is really unsuitable."

Shanglin Garden not only has hundreds of rare and exotic animals, but also many more free-range livestock.

Nowadays, animals shed their fur in the summer, losing all of their softest, most beautiful, and skin-friendly undercoat, leaving only long and stiff hairs on their skin, which is certainly not top-quality.

Although Ji Heng did not hunt these today, he still felt quite regretful when he thought about it now.

After all, Qin Qing is the Queen of Great Qin. Now that she is eager for her children, the imperial edict will certainly not be issued with a grand ceremony, and will inevitably seem rather weak.

Since that's the case, let's order the Minister of the Imperial Household to organize the rare animal pelts in the storehouse and distribute them as rewards.

Inspired by Qin Shi, Zhou Ju practiced his sharp tongue in private and said with a smile, "Qin Qing's love for the King is not about the rewards of cloth and pearls, but about the King's heart."

"If she were truly obsessed with these material possessions, why did she only take a small portion when she was rewarded by the King with the medicine and it was put into the treasury?"

She only glanced at those luminous pearls that were so popular among the common people.

When Zhou Ju spoke at this moment, it was very comforting to Ji Heng.

When he returned to Xianyang Palace, he had just washed up and tidied himself up before heading to Zhangtai Palace to read the memorials, when he heard Zhou Ju enter in surprise from outside the hall:
"Your Majesty, Minister Qin has arrived."

Ji Heng was speechless for a moment: he had just returned to the palace, and Zhangtai Palace had not even received her request to come.

However, because news had already spread in the palace that she would become queen, Qin Shi went straight to the main hall.

Sure enough... I can't wait.

She entered the hall with a slightly faster pace than usual.

Upon seeing Ji Heng, a genuine smile of anticipation and long-awaited joy spread across his face.

Even though Ji Heng was prepared, he still couldn't help but sigh.

However, it is not advisable to have too many thoughts about children. If you, Qin Qing, are capable, it would be better to focus your efforts on the affairs of the Qin state.

Therefore, he took the initiative to ask, "What urgent matter brings you here in such a hurry?"

Qin Shi arrived in high spirits, but upon seeing Ji Heng, she couldn't help but recall her boldness under the moonlight the previous night, and couldn't help but hesitate.

But right now, there are more important things than her slight discomfort!
"Your Majesty, a batch of qualified coal...coal has been delivered from the Ironworks today!"

This stuff was originally called coal both above and below.

However, during the Qin Dynasty, as a noblewoman, she was called Mei, and thus her name spread.

The order was given by Ji Heng to conduct extensive mining.

The first batch of coal has now been processed as required and will be sent to Tieguangongfang...

Although only a small portion has been sent to Xianyang Palace for her inspection and presentation to the King, Qin Shi felt that this was a crucial moment in the progress of Qin society!
With coal, we can refine simple coke.

With coke, the temperature can be increased using improved bellows and blast furnaces.

Once the temperature is raised above the melting point, not only can iron with higher purity be produced, but there will also be enough iron powder and coal slag to make cement!

And to refine clearer, more impurity-free, and more stable glass.

It was far more practical than the rare glass that can only be produced occasionally today. With glass, objects that would advance medicine, such as pipettes, petri dishes, and distillation equipment, could be created.

More importantly, as long as Ji Heng approves of the feasibility of using coal stoves for heating, then once he becomes the Queen of Qin, he can directly issue an order to widely distribute the method of heating to the people of the world!
Although it is a rare warm period now, the winter temperature is not like in later years, but it is at most a slight increase of two or three degrees.

If ordinary people have no clothes to keep them warm, those who are destined to freeze to death will still freeze to death.

Now that bituminous coal has been produced, the people of Qin have even greater hope.

As Qin Shi spoke of this, his eyes shone brightly, he was overjoyed, and his cheeks were slightly flushed, filled with an indescribable excitement.

Seeing this, Ji Heng couldn't help but become interested:

"Is it really as good as you say?"

This type of coal had not been widely known before, entirely because it burned at insufficient temperatures, contained a high concentration of impurities, and emitted billowing smoke.

Otherwise, if you could get plenty by mining at will, why bother with the hard work of logging?
More importantly, all the buildings in Xianyang Palace were tall and spacious, and burning charcoal for heating every winter was particularly extravagant.

Nowadays, coal... is much more economical to use than charcoal.

Qin Shi was overjoyed:
"After the raw coal is mined, laborers are first ordered to remove the impurities, and then workers pick out the gangue and rocks. Then, stone hammers, impact hammers, crushing hammers, and other tools are used to sort and screen the coal again, and the method of water flotation is also used..."

Ultimately, the goal is the same: to remove all the clutter.

In this way, every piece of coal obtained can burn normally and completely.

This is the most basic bituminous coal.

At this moment, she was truly grateful that this was the Qin state, where assembly line technology was already extremely popular in military factories.

It was the king himself who gave the order.

Therefore, with so many procedures arranged, she didn't need to do much management; officials would arrange everything in place, which is why the results could be achieved so quickly.

With the addition of universal corvée labor, it was easy to find manpower simply by transferring laborers from other places to a different work process.

She simply drew a few pictures of manpower-driven hydraulic breakers and water hammers to improve efficiency and save energy for everyone.

And now, his career has finally completed its first step.

...

Ji Heng listened attentively and found that the selection process only required some effort, but was not a difficult task.

In terms of efficiency, it is probably more convenient and safer than long-distance transportation of timber from the mountains.

After all, the coal mines in the Qin Dynasty were not in the state of being fully exploited and excavated as they are in later generations. On the contrary, there were open-pit mines everywhere. Given the current use of coal without large factories, it would probably take hundreds more years before it was moved to the depths of the earth.

Thus, although mining also resulted in deaths—after all, the amount of labor involved was too great.

The laborers who went into the mountains to cut down towering trees and transport the timber down the mountain were numerous and difficult, and many of them died.

After calculating it this way, the laborers saved could be assigned to dig the Ling Canal, build the Great Wall, construct palaces, and repair the underground palace at Mount Li...

Furthermore, let them cultivate the land and raise livestock properly. In this way, everyone in Qin will have something to do, and there will naturally be fewer disputes in the villages and counties, making them easier to manage.

Ji Heng was truly delighted!

"Zhou Ju, make arrangements immediately."

He wanted to verify it himself.

　After more than half a month of progress, the career line has finally taken another big step forward!

　　(End of this chapter)