Raising chickens and pigs and digging for wild vegetables, the county magistrate's promotion wa

Chapter 136 Do you even know what you're saying?

Selling to the palace or to the common people are two completely different concepts.

The so-called "selling to the palace" actually meant first sending a small batch to Emperor Zhu Chongba, and then seeing if it could be recognized as a tribute item. Then, it would be sold at a high price and as a premium product. After all, it was something that even the emperor had eaten and praised, so selling it cheaply would be unfair to Emperor Zhu.

The so-called "selling to the people" means taking a low-price, people-friendly approach. Although the price will not be as low as usual, it will still be cheaper than the tribute items, so ordinary people can occasionally buy a little to try it out.

Of course, the term "common people" also includes the officials in the capital who worked for Emperor Zhu, especially truly poor officials like Wang Qiong.

Faced with Wang Qiong's question, Yang Shaofeng answered without hesitation: "His Majesty and His Highness the Crown Prince have bestowed many gifts upon the people of Ningyang County. Now that the people of Ningyang County are able to grow some fresh vegetables in winter, they should naturally send some to His Majesty and His Highness the Crown Prince to enjoy."

"As for the rest, half were sent to the armies of Minister Xu and Minister Chang, and the other half were sent to the capital to be sold."

"To be frank, those sent to Xu Xiang and Chang Pingzhang's armies weren't for making money; only those sent to the capital to be sold were for profit."

Wang Qiong nodded, first praising Magistrate Yang for a few moments, then asked with great curiosity, "According to what Brother Yang said, growing these vegetables requires a greenhouse, right? Shandong is a cold and freezing place, I wonder what keeps the greenhouse warm?"

Yang Shaofeng chuckled and pointed to the stove in the southwest corner of the room, saying, "Brother Wang, look at that stove next to it; that's my secret weapon for keeping warm."

Curious, Wang Qiong apologized to Yang Shaofeng, then got up and walked to the stove, carefully examining the magical artifact that Magistrate Yang had mentioned.

The magic weapon that Magistrate Yang mentioned was completely black, looking like a thick, black log with twelve small round holes in the middle. The magic weapon was not very dry and looked slightly damp.

Just as Wang Qiong was wondering what this was, Yang Shaofeng got up and came over, picked up the kettle on the stove, and said to Wang Qiong with a smile, "Brother Wang, take a look inside."

Yang Shaofeng moved the kettle further away, and a bright flame immediately emanated from the stove, along with a wave of heat. Wang Qiong stepped back slightly and examined it carefully before realizing that the stove seemed to be burning the magic weapon that Magistrate Yang had mentioned.

Wang Qiong glanced at the stove, then turned to look at Yang Shaofeng, and said hesitantly, "This..."

Yang Shaofeng smiled, switched the kettle to his left hand, picked up the tongs next to him with his right hand, inserted the tongs into the hole of the so-called magic weapon, and with a little force, picked up the magic weapon and put it back into the furnace.

Then, a plume of black smoke rose up, followed by a rather pungent smell.

Wang Qiong guessed that the so-called magic weapon of Magistrate Yang was probably made of coal dust, and the pungent smell just now was because the coal dust was not completely dry.

Just as Wang Qiong was making wild guesses, flames shot up from the twelve holes on the so-called magic weapon of Magistrate Yang, and Magistrate Yang put the kettle back on the stove.

Magistrate Yang said with a smile, "This thing is called honeycomb briquette. Besides coal dust, it is made of loess and water. There is nothing else. It is quite simple to make. Just mix the loess and coal dust with water, put it into a mold and press it to form a shape. It can be said to be simple to make and inexpensive."

"The key is that this thing burns very well. A honeycomb briquette can burn for about an hour. If you stagger the coal holes and reduce the air damper at the bottom of the stove, a piece can burn for about half an hour or even a whole hour."

Wang Qiong clicked her tongue in amazement, examining the honeycomb briquettes around the stove several times before turning her gaze back to the stove.

The stove used by Magistrate Yang was very simple, even rudimentary, because the entire stove was a crudely made clay stove, which was simply a stove made of yellow clay and did not even have an iron shell.

The stove wasn't very tall; a mud chimney extended from the back, connecting directly to the chimney on the wall inside the house.

Yang Shaofeng said with a smile, "There's no other way. There are no workshops in Ningyang County that can smelt iron, and no blacksmiths either. We can only make do with mud for now. But it's good this way, as it saves the people money from buying chimneys."

Wang Qiong glanced at the stove and chimney, then at Yang Shaofeng, the county magistrate.

Does this save ordinary people the money they would have spent on buying chimneys?

Even you, Magistrate Yang, are saving money on buying a chimney!

Wang Qiong simply didn't believe that Magistrate Yang couldn't manage to assemble a few sections of corrugated iron chimney.

With a smile and a shake of his head, Wang Qiong bowed directly to Magistrate Yang and said, "Brother Yang is a man of great talent, which I admire. Your concern for the people is even more admirable."

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Wang Qiong pointed to the honeycomb briquettes and the stove, and said, "Brother Yang, may I take some of these back to the capital?"

Yang Shaofeng replied nonchalantly, "If Brother Wang is willing to take them, then take them. However, honeycomb briquettes are susceptible to damage from bumps. The journey from Ningyang to Yanzhou is relatively smooth, but after that, Brother Wang should be more careful."

Wang Qiong nodded. "Brother Yang, rest assured, I will be extremely careful."

As they talked, they returned to the table and ate a few more bites of food before Wang Qiong spoke again: "Brother Yang, do you remember when I came last time, you said that Ningyang County lacked manpower for road repair? But this time when I come again, the road from Ningyang County to Yanzhou Prefecture has been almost half repaired, hasn't it?"

Yang Shaofeng nodded and said, "Pretty much. After all, there are three hundred more prisoners, and this road is only a ten-foot-wide path for now. If it takes this long and we still can't finish half of it, then I guess I won't live to see it finished."

Wang Qiong nodded again and said, "Brother Yang always seems to have these ingenious ideas. Could it be that His Majesty intends to make Ningyang County stand out and make Brother Yang one of only two sixth-rank county magistrates in our Great Ming Dynasty?"

However, Magistrate Yang Shaofeng showed little interest.

What is Kong Xida anyway? Does he even deserve to be a sixth-rank county magistrate like me?

After silently complaining to himself, Magistrate Yang spoke again: "Brother Wang, you don't know the suffering of Ningyang County... Winter is just around the corner, and our Confucian Temple in Ningyang County is almost finished with its renovations, but in such a large county as Ningyang, we can't even find a single scholar who can be a teacher. I really can't stand it!"

As Yang Shaofeng finished speaking, Wang Qiong's eyes widened once again.

"Confucian Temple?"

"School?"

No, do you even know what you're saying?

You're trying to set up a school in Ningyang County, which has only about 500 households at most, and even if you include the exiled criminals, it's less than 3,000 people.

And they complain about the lack of scholars who can become teachers?