Chapter 248 - Do him a favor

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

After the Wu family’s matter came to an end, the county resumed its peaceful days.

Mo Qingling had the wooden box sent to the capital on horseback.

As for how to deal with it, it was none of his business.

Then, he publicly disclosed that he found the iron mine and hired people to open it.

He still had the iron-making formula given by the emperor, and the Ministry of Works had sent two people to assist him.

Soon, a workshop for ironmaking was built.

Shi Qingluo was wearing a sweater and a furry cloak that her young husband had specially sent people to the prefecture capital to make, but she still felt cold.

She realized that they were all using braziers.

If they used ordinary carbon, the fireworks would be big and choking.

They had to use silver thread carbon to avoid such a problem, but a brazier was also cold.

It would be too expensive to put in more braziers.

She hugged the brazier and squeezed onto the sofa with Xiao Hanzheng. “Old Xiao, let’s go find Mo Qingling to get some iron.”

Xiao Hanzheng shifted his gaze from the book to her and asked, “What’s the point of getting iron?”

......

Shi Qing replied, “To make an iron stove. The weather is getting colder and colder. Braziers are not as suitable as iron stoves.”

There were also coal stoves made of mud or bricks in the kitchen.

There were no iron-sheet stoves or honeycomb stoves.

She said, “When the time comes, we can get some honeycomb stoves. The cost is much cheaper than silver-thread stoves.

“Let’s make an iron stove like a table.

“You can put your books on the table. Not only will you feel warm all over, but your hands will also feel warm.”

“We also want one in the kitchen.

“When we eat, we can eat on the stove.

“The food will always be hot, so it won’t get cold all of a sudden.”

The more she thought about it, the more she felt that she should get the iron stove and honeycomb furnace out.

Not only would it be convenient for them, but it would also benefit the people.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Xiao Hanzheng knew that his little wife was afraid of the cold. Looking at her sparkling eyes, he put down the book and said with a smile, “Alright, let’s go find Mo Qingling now.”

He was used to winter like this, so his little wife was obviously not used to it.

What else could he do? He could only pamper her.

Shi Qingluo gave him a big kiss on the cheek. “You’re the best!”

The two of them went to the county town, and Mo Qingling was doing some official business.

Under the desk was a brazier.

He was wearing a woolen sweater that Xiao Hanzheng had given him with woolen gloves.

He was feeling much warmer than usual.

When he heard that the two of them had come to visit, he took a break from his official business to welcome them.

After sitting down and drinking a cup of hot tea, Shi Qingluo straightforwardly stated her purpose.

When Mo Qingling heard that she wanted to use iron to build an iron stove, he readily agreed.

He decided to continue being a good person.

“There are quite a number of blacksmiths in our ironmaking workshop. You can draw a blueprint for the iron stove you want to build. I’ll get someone to help you build it.”

Shi Qingluo smiled and nodded. “Alright, then I’ll have to trouble you.

“I’ll draw it now.”

Hence, Mo Qingling got someone to prepare brushes and paper.

Shi Qingluo drew the square table iron stove that she wanted.

This kind used more scraped iron.

She handed the blueprint to Mo Qingling and asked, “I want to make a few more. Can I use money to buy iron?”

Mo Qingling laughed. “No need. After you presented the iron refining recipe to the Ministry of Works, they realized that the amount of iron produced by this method has doubled compared to the previous ones.

“The hardness and strength of the iron are higher.

“Making a few iron stoves is nothing compared to your contribution.”

The weapons that they had made with the newly produced iron were also twice as hard as the iron from before.

The blades that they had refined could even cut through the blades that had been made from the same type of iron.

This excited them a lot.

They had just reported it to the emperor and believed that he would also be happy and excited.

This was all thanks to Shi Qingluo presenting the iron-refining formula.

Seeing that he was serious, Shi Qingluo did not argue. “Alright, then thank you very much!”

Mo Qingling finished reading the blueprint and sighed. “This type of stove requires too much iron. Otherwise, if it is easy to use and saves coal, we can promote this to the public.”

Shi Qingluo smiled and said, “This is what I want to build.

“This type of furnace can also be made into a simple iron-sheet furnace.

“A layer of iron sheet on the outside, and yellow mud on the inside.

“We can add a chimney too.”

“This can also be carried around. If there’s no chimney, we have to pay attention and always open the windows for ventilation.

“Using a honeycomb stove would save coal and burn longer.”

Mo Qingling was ready to quickly build the iron stove that Shi Qingluo had mentioned. “Alright, I’ll follow your instructions and have the people in the workshop build it.”

He asked again, “How do you make the honeycomb stove?”

Shi Qingluo replied, “The main point is to create the mold for pressing the honeycomb stove.”

She used paper to draw the mold for making honeycomb stoves and then wrote down the method for making it on paper.

“Just follow this.”

If she left it to Mo Qingling, the efficiency would be much higher.

She was just waiting to reap the benefits.

After the new year, she would have to accompany her young husband to the capital city for the exams.

She did not want to open another workshop to do it herself.

Moreover, the government had stricter control over iron at the moment.

A large amount of iron was needed to make an iron-sheet stove.

Even if Mo Qingling agreed to provide it, it would be troublesome if others took advantage of the loophole or intentionally dug a trap for them after they left Xiaxi village.

Those in the workshop would secretly take the iron to make weapons.

Therefore, this kind of business was more suitable for the government.

Mo Qingling put away the paper and said with a smile, “When the iron stove and honeycomb stove are ready, I’ll get someone to call you over to take a look.”

Shi Qingluo nodded. “Thank you!”

Mo Qingling thought of something else. “Oh right, sell some of the sweaters, sweaters, and woolen socks from your wool workshop to me.”

He wanted to buy some to give to his maternal grandparents and his other family and friends.

As for his relatives in the marquis’ mansion, he only cared about his relationship with his maternal grandmother all the way to his biological father.

Shi Qingluo smiled and said, “No problem. Are you going to transport them to the capital?”

Mo Qingling nodded. “Yes.”

Shi Qingluo smiled and said, “Then can I trouble you to help me transport some to the capital as well? I was originally planning to look for any groups of merchants in the next two days. If you want to transport them, I’ll ask for your help.”

The wool workshop had just opened not long ago.

The sweaters and trousers that they had knitted previously were not exquisite.

So, Shi Qingluo was not in a hurry to send them to the capital.

Now that the female workers had gotten the hang of it, they could still weave different patterns according to what she said.

In addition, Shi Qingluo had also sent quite a number of extra sets to Xi Rong and the others, so these productions had been delayed for some time.

They had originally planned to enter the county town today and also to ask if there were any groups of merchants that had entered the capital recently.

Mo Qingling came knocking on their door.

Mo Qingling couldn’t help but laugh. “No problem.”

“But I might have to be delayed here.”

He shook the paper in his hand. “I’m prepared to wait for the honeycomb stove and iron stove to be built before building some and sending them to the capital.”

The emperor naturally had a copy of the blueprints, and he also wanted to prepare a copy for the empress, the crown prince, his grandmother, and the others.

Although the things that Shi Qingluo had given him weren’t ready yet, he felt that it wouldn’t be bad.

Hearing his words, Shi Qingluo’s eyes lit up. “Then I’ll make a dozen sets of iron stoves and give them away. You can help me transport them then.”

It just so happened that she also wanted to give Xi Rong and the others the iron stoves.

This type of table stoves had an air outlet sealed.

The honeycomb stove would not burn so quickly, so it would not be too hot.

Playing Mahjong on it would be just right, and the hands and feet would also be warm.

“How about using these papers in your hands to exchange them?”

Mo Qingling probably would not accept the money.

Since her family could not open such a workshop anyway, she might as well do it as a favor and exchange for it with the formula she had.

The emperor could still make a mental note of it, so it was quite worth it.

Mo Qingling nodded and smiled. “Alright, I will explain in the memorial.”

They must definitely keep the emperor in loop of such things, it was like their approval letter to do it.