After ten years of accompanying me in my studies, the entire court begged me to shut up.

"Methane gas, burning..."

Wang Shouren attempted to connect these two words together.

If what the other party said is true, then biogas digesters are indeed feasible.

Liu Jin, who had been waiting impatiently, said irritably, "Yang has already explained everything to you. Is there any more question?"

Wang Shouren said, "Yang, could you wait a little while?"

Liu Jin was even more annoyed: "Why should I wait for you...?"

"Eunuch Liu, please calm down!"

Yang Shen stopped him again and asked, "When will Wang Guanzheng give an answer?"

Wang Shouren thought for a moment and said, "At most one day. I will come to the East Palace to find you at this time tomorrow."

"Alright, it's a deal!"

"Goodbye!"

The two clasped their hands in greeting, and Yang Shen led Liu Jin out of the Ministry of Works.

Liu Jin said unhappily, "Yang, why are you wasting your breath talking to him? Don't even mention a mere scholar who has passed the imperial examinations; even the Minister of Works wouldn't dare disobey His Highness the Crown Prince's orders!"

Yang Shen advised, "Your Highness's idea is somewhat ahead of its time, and it's normal for ordinary people to find it difficult to accept at first."

"Hmph, if it weren't for your sake today, we would have made him pay!"

As long as he wasn't in front of Zhu Houzhao, Liu Jin always acted arrogantly.

After the two left, Wang Shouren sat there blankly for a long time, muttering to himself from time to time.

Soon it was noon, and everyone put down their work. Some took out the dry food they had brought from home, while others went out to eat in groups of three or five.

"Wang Guanzheng, why aren't you leaving yet?"

"Oh, I'll go right away!"

When a colleague came forward to greet him, Wang Shouren seemed to snap out of his daze, got up, and quickly left.

Exiting through the Meridian Gate and crossing two streets, you'll find numerous restaurants and teahouses, as well as many food stalls along the roadside.

Wang Shouren, however, did not stop and went straight to the left gate of Chang'an, plunging into the Literature and History Museum of the Hanlin Academy.

He spent the entire afternoon at the museum, only being kicked out when it closed for the night.

Back home, he didn't stop. He rummaged through drawers and found a few books, then read them by candlelight late into the night.

It wasn't until dawn the next day that I washed my face and went to work with dark circles under my eyes.

With the Meridian Gate wide open, officials of all ranks from various departments hurried to their posts.

An inconspicuous sedan chair was lowered, and Wang Ao stepped out.

He had broken several ribs, and although he hadn't fully recovered, he could already get out of bed and walk. After all, the Hongzhi Emperor had personally come to visit him, and as a subject, he had to hurry and express his gratitude.

Some people with sharp eyes spotted Wang Ao and came up to greet him, asking about his well-being.

Wang Ao wore a smile, but he looked completely powerless, after all, he was working while sick.

So they arrived at the Ministry of Personnel, first checked in, and then headed to the Wenhua Hall.

I had only taken a few steps when suddenly my stomach churned, and I felt a warm current about to burst out between my thighs.

Humans have three urgent needs; even a deity would need to find a place to relieve themselves.

At his level, he should have a chamber pot in his own apartment, but it seems too late.

Wang Ao looked around. Ahead was the Ministry of Works, and around the corner was a latrine specifically for lower-ranking officials. He didn't care about anything else at the moment, squeezed his legs together, and walked over in a strange posture.

Fortunately, there was no one else inside. Although the smell was a bit strong, it was still a private room.

Just as he was losing control of his bowels, a faint arguing could be heard outside.

Wang Ao was bored while squatting in the toilet, so he overheard a few words. It seemed that the reason for rebuilding the East Palace latrine was that the blueprints needed to be modified and the budget increased.

"...This drawing is traceable. I checked historical records yesterday and there are indeed relevant records."

"Wang Guanzheng, have you gone mad from reading too much? You actually believe this kind of nonsense?"

"But……"

"Stop with the 'buts'! The Ministry of Works is different from the Hanlin Academy. We're busy to death every day, especially our Construction Department. The city walls are broken and need repair, the palaces are old and need repair, and now even repairing a latrine requires drafting a plan, having it reviewed by the Ministry of Revenue, and then having it drafted by the Grand Secretariat! Revising the blueprints and budgets means going through the whole process again. Do you know how troublesome that is? Recently, the Haihe River flooded, and everyone has been sent out to repair the river embankments. I already have a ton of work to do, so please stop making things worse, okay?"

This person was the head of the Construction Department of the Ministry of Works, and Wang Shouren's temporary superior.

Aside from Wang Shouren, anyone else would consider the idea of ​​a biogas digester to be pure fantasy.

The idea that flammable gases can be produced in cesspools and even replace charcoal is pure fantasy.

Wang Shouren stood at the door, lost in thought, holding his own drawings and some organized notes.

Since listening to Yang Shen's introduction yesterday, he went to the Hanlin Academy's Literature and History Museum to search through a large number of historical records and was almost certain that the idea of ​​a biogas digester could be realized.

The problem is that if we want to modify the drawings and increase the budget, we need approval from our superiors.

No one listened to his explanations, and he himself didn't have the authority to do so.

Unwittingly, I saw the outhouse in the corner of the courtyard wall, and there was no one around.

Wang Shouren's feelings intensified, and he suddenly felt an inexplicable impulse.

So he took out his tinderbox, went to the back of the outhouse, and slowly squatted down.

He was different from others from a young age. When he was studying, in order to verify Zhu Xi's saying about thoroughly investigating the principles of all things, he spent seven days and seven nights investigating the bamboo at the door.

Finally, I came to a conclusion: people will die if they don't sleep!

Records of biogas being combustible have now been found, but field verification is still needed.

There just happened to be a cesspool right in front of me, and there was nobody around...

Wang Shouren put the blueprints and notes into his pocket, picked up the tinderbox, thought for a moment, and then extinguished it.

He first carefully observed his surroundings. The Forbidden City had a large number of wooden buildings, and in order to prevent fire, large water vats were placed in every courtyard and corner. There was a water vat fifty paces behind him.

Next, he even went to check and confirmed that it was filled with clean water.

Then, after estimating the distance, I figured that even if it did catch fire, I could put it out quickly.

After making up his mind, he turned back again, stopped a dozen steps away from the latrine, took a few deep breaths, lit the tinderbox, threw it out forcefully, and squatted down with his hands behind his head.

This outhouse had not been cleaned for many days, and the large amount of methane gas ignited instantly upon contact with an open flame!

boom!

The blast wave ripped off the roof of the outhouse, and the brick walls collapsed with a crash!

Wang Shouren slowly stood up, his eyes filled with disbelief.

So this means that biogas really exists, and the idea of ​​building biogas digesters is entirely feasible!

"Fire!"

"Who threw the firecracker?"

Nearby officials and guards rushed over, and upon seeing the situation, they immediately panicked.

Wang Shouren shouted, "Quickly, put out the fire!"

Only then did everyone realize what was happening, and they hurriedly ran to the nearest water vat, then frantically splashed water onto the outhouse.

In the chaos, an official suddenly shouted, "Don't move!"

Everyone else looked over, and then the person said, "It sounds like there's a sound!"

Everyone listened intently and indeed heard a faint groan.

Wang Shouren had a bad feeling. He had only looked around and thought no one was there, so he forgot to check inside!

Two guards led the way, moving aside the scattered blue bricks, finally revealing a head with gray hair and beard.

"Oh my, it's Vice Minister Wang from the Ministry of Personnel!"

"Why would Vice Minister Wang come to the Ministry of Works to use the restroom?"

"I heard that Vice Minister Wang has offended the God of Dung. Wherever he goes, the latrines explode. He just blew up the latrines of the Eastern Palace a while ago, and today he blew up the latrines of our Ministry of Works..."

"How will we use the toilet then? Are we going to have a special iron chamber pot made...?"