Chronicles of the Qin Dynasty

Chapter 168, Section 167: The Power of Boiling Water
As Prince Qian entered Zhangtai Palace carrying a tray, he tried his best to suppress his fear of Ji Heng, and then his burning eyes were fixed on Yan Ying.

He was out of luck; General Yan had already fallen ill while he was studying in the palace, so he dared not disturb him in the slightest.

Many of Qin's generals were stationed in their own territories and could not return to Xianyang unless it was for important matters.

Thus, despite his high aspirations, he has yet to receive instruction from a truly accomplished general.

Finally, Yan Ying returned. As a county commandant, she was stationed in the harsh land of Baiyue, which Wang Ziqian really longed for.

Unfortunately, they met on the road where even riding a horse was not allowed, as it was a time of great inconvenience.

He was slightly depressed when he heard that the Commandant of Yan Commandery would be returning to Xianyang after reporting for duty.

Seeing that the other party hadn't left and seemed quite leisurely sitting in Zhangtai Palace, he couldn't help but get excited again.

Ji Heng looked at the tray he was holding, his brows furrowing slightly.
He already seemed foolish; presenting him with something like this only made him appear less princely.

But looking at Qin Shi again, I was quite surprised:
His children each had their own personalities, but Qin Qing was the one who could boss them around completely.

It is evident that this future queen will have some good methods for educating her children.

Thinking of this, and seeing that Prince Qian still seemed to have a future, he was quite tolerant and said:

"What is this?"

Prince Qian then came to his senses:
"Father!"

He slightly raised his arms, as if he wanted to present what he was holding to it:
"This is an extremely important military supply: honeycomb briquettes!"

It's a pity I didn't make it myself, but it doesn't matter, I brought it with my own hands!

His earnest, almost effusive, expression was remarkably sincere.

Even though Yan Ying knew he didn't have much in his head, she couldn't help but be curious at this moment:

"Oh? May I ask, Your Highness, where are these [military supplies]?"

Prince Qian proudly opened his mouth: "This stuff burns longer and is more useful than firewood and charcoal, and it's also warmer. With coal briquettes, the army can save a lot of firewood on its supply routes."

Now Yan Ying was genuinely curious.

Although the Baiyue region has many mountains and forests, firewood is not so easy to find.

This is because the area is hot and humid, and when the temperature is high, it can scorch a person's skin, but then a torrential downpour will come in the next moment.

This cycle repeated itself; when she first arrived, she suffered from a series of illnesses and frequent rashes all over her body, and it has only now come to her senses.

Under these circumstances, local people have to frequently turn over and dry the firewood and bamboo they use before using them.

Is this coal briquettes really that good?
Ji Heng had already seen Zhou Ju compare the broken coal pieces with charcoal yesterday, and now, looking at the strangely shaped honeycomb briquettes, he said, "With this coal briquette shaped like this, there will probably be quite a few broken pieces during the transport of military supplies."

"Qin Qing, why does it have this shape?"

Even if it's mixed with loess, it can still be used even if it's lumped together.

Qin Shi certainly wouldn't just bring this as a treasure to present to Ji Heng. He also brought military supplies, and the coal could be used however he wanted—coal powder, coal chunks, or coal cakes were all acceptable.

The reason for making it this shape—

"For greater savings and for greater convenience."

She had a small clay stove brought to her.

In the memories of many people in later generations, especially in rural families, many people were still using coal stoves until around 2000.

This small stove occupies very little space; three supporting legs support a cylinder, and there is a damper at the bottom.

The damper extends into the furnace body, a pad is placed on top, and then three honeycomb briquettes are stacked.

Whether you're making soup or placing a kettle on top, it's incredibly convenient.

If you really want to stir-fry over a high flame, simply open the damper, replace the coal with fresh coal, and wait a moment for a roaring fire to appear.

If you find lighting it troublesome, you can simply leave a small hole in the damper when you go to sleep at night, and one or two pieces of coal will last until the next morning.

She then demonstrated its use one by one; commoners didn't even need fire tongs, just two long bamboo chopsticks to operate it. Besides providing warmth in winter, this item had another seemingly insignificant yet extremely important benefit—

"Because the cost of maintaining its flame is very low, people with a little spare time are likely to place water jugs on it."

"Out of 10 people, there will always be one or two who wait until the water boils before drinking it."

Nowadays, the upper class has developed the habit of drinking hot water. The Analects says: "When you see something evil, treat it as if you are touching boiling water."

Mencius said: In winter, people drink soup.

However, this was limited to the upper nobility.

Ordinary people don't even have enough firewood to cook rice, so how could they have the right or the time to boil water for drinking?
Ji Heng frowned slightly.

In his view, this was simply because Qin Qing was kind and compassionate, and therefore had special pity for the common people.

Yan Ying, however, did not know how to begin.

On the march, we drink from any water source we find, why bother boiling water... We might listen to the supplies ahead, but the matter of boiling water is really not worth mentioning.

However, Qin Shi said:
"Drinking hot water is the lowest-cost way to prevent the spread of the virus."

epidemic prevention?!
Upon hearing this, Ji Heng and Yan Ying were both invigorated.

Although the Xianyang Palace now has drainage pipes and sanitation systems comparable to those of later generations, all of these were only available to the upper-class nobility.

In fact, due to frequent wars and migrations, there have been many reports of epidemics breaking out in various parts of the country.

The Qin state even established a "Pest Control Station" where anyone found to be suffering from an epidemic would be immediately sent there.

This is explicitly stipulated in the law.

In fact, Ji Heng and Yan Ying's reactions were perfectly normal.

Even in her time, the concept of "sterilizing with boiling water" originated from the New Life Movement promoted by Chiang Kai-shek's government during the Republic of China era.

Then, after the founding of the People's Republic of China, it was popularized and promoted to the working class and the vast rural and mountainous areas.

Therefore, this was also emphasized during the Qin Dynasty:

“Water from the wild and wells is often polluted.”

"Cholera, malaria, dysentery, liver and gallbladder diseases... if an epidemic is rampant in a place, it is all related to untreated water."

"Furthermore, the water quality in some areas is particularly hard, and if it is not boiled, it can easily cause urinary stones, gallstones, and gastric stones."

She picked out a few details to emphasize, from viruses and bacteria to insects, which made the two of them frown, and Yan Ying seemed to be deep in thought:
"When we first went to Baiyue, a small outbreak of malaria occurred in the army. Could it be..."

Could it be that simply boiling the water before drinking would save hundreds of soldiers from dying?!

She looked at Qin Shi, wishing she could pick him up and shake him, to make him say more, and say even more!

Without a microscope, the tiny insects in the water couldn't be seen by the two of them, but for Ji Heng, these words seemed to echo something Qin Qing had mentioned not long ago—

"You once said that there are small insects in raw fish, so we should eat less raw fish."

Is it the same principle?

Qin Shi was somewhat surprised—Ji Heng's memory was clearly exceptionally good.

Moreover, he is very obedient to advice.

She nodded at that moment: "That's exactly right."

Some things have only a probability of zero or 100%.

All their efforts are merely an attempt to push the probability down as much as possible, given a population of tens of millions.

　I'm still asking for monthly votes!!

　　(End of this chapter)