xymnovel Chapter 123 The Concept of Heated Beds
Chapter 123 The Concept of Heated Beds
Chapter 123 The Concept of Heated Beds
He took another bite of sweet potato, his gaze drifting through the broken window of the woodshed to the snow falling harder and harder outside.
"This stuff is good, but it can't solve the immediate problem."
Li Shimin swallowed the sweet potato and said in a deep voice, "As I walked along the palace wall, I saw icicles hanging on the trees."
If it's like this in the palace, then the slums in the south of the city—people will probably freeze to death tonight.
In this era, warmth is a luxury.
The rich use silver frost charcoal, which is smokeless and burns for a long time.
The middle class uses black charcoal, which produces a lot of smoke and is very pungent.
Poor people? Poor people can only rely on their integrity, or burn some damp firewood, and if they're not careful, they'll get poisoned by tobacco and never wake up again.
"If there's not enough charcoal, we'll burn stones."
Su Mu threw the sweet potato peels he had finished eating into the stove and patted the ash off his hands.
Li Shimin was taken aback, then smiled wryly: "Su Mu, don't make fun of me. If stones could be burned, where would the frozen corpses of the dead be in this world?"
"There is a type of stone that can be burned."
Su Mu leaned back against the haystack behind him, looking languid. "It's black, and it's everywhere. Some people call it coal, and others call it coal."
Li Shimin's expression changed, and he even put down the sweet potato he was holding.
You mean coal?
Of course he knew about coal.
This thing was also discovered in the Tang Dynasty, but it was a poison!
"That stuff is poisonous! When it burns, it produces a lot of yellow smoke and has a pungent smell. If you stay in the house for too long, you will either feel dizzy and vomit, or even die."
People have tried this before, and the whole family suffocated inside. It's an ominous thing!
Su Mu raised an eyebrow: "It's poisonous because you don't know how to burn it."
He picked up a twig, drew a circle on the dusty ground, and poked a few holes in the circle.
"Grind the black stone into powder, mix it with yellow soil, add water in the right proportion, and make it into this porous honeycomb structure."
Su Mu pointed to the diagram on the ground: "This is called a honeycomb briquette. With holes, the fire burns brighter and the smoke spreads faster. But that's not enough; you also need a special stove."
He then drew a simple stove next to it, and emphasized a pipe leading to the window.
"Add a chimney to vent the toxic fumes. This piece of coal can burn for an hour, with a heat three times stronger than charcoal, and costs only one-tenth the price of charcoal."
Li Shimin stared at the simple line drawing on the ground, his eyes gradually changing from disdain to seriousness, and finally his breathing became rapid!
If what Su Mu said is true—
Only 10% of the price? Three times the firepower?
What does that mean? It means that the million people of Chang'an will no longer have to shiver in the winter!
"really?"
Li Shimin suddenly stood up, so abruptly that he knocked over the small stool. "Mixing it with yellow clay can remove the poison?"
"I can't say it can detoxify, but the chimney can certainly remove toxins."
Su Mu didn't make any absolute statements, "As for keeping warm, a stove alone won't be enough. We'll also have to modify the bed."
"Modify the bed?"
"Make a kang (heated brick bed)."
Su Mu drew a rectangle on the ground with a twig. "Build a hollow bed with bricks, and let the flue run under the bed. When you start a fire in the stove, the hot air will first circulate under the bed before being expelled through the chimney."
The bed board stayed warm all night; you could practically bake a pancake on it, let alone sleep on it.
A heated kang (traditional heated brick bed)!
This thing was a standard feature in rural northern China in later generations, but it was nowhere to be found in the Tang Dynasty.
Li Shimin stared intently at the two paintings on the ground.
Honeycomb briquettes, iron stove, and heated brick bed.
The three things combined conjured up an unprecedented image in his mind:
On a snowy winter night, the homes of impoverished families were no longer as cold as iceboxes, but rather filled with the whole family gathered around a warm earthen bed, the stove glowing red, and the water in the pot bubbling away—
"hiss--!"
Li Shimin gasped, feeling a chill run down his spine.
If this can be accomplished, the merit will be no less than that of Yu the Great controlling the floods!
Little Sizi, having finished her sweet potato, was warming her hands against the stove wall when she saw her father staring blankly at her. In her childish voice, she asked, "Father, is that...the one Guoguo drew—a bed that keeps your bottom warm?"
This child's innocent words pulled Li Shimin back from his shock.
He suddenly turned to look at Su Mu, his eyes burning with an alarming intensity.
"Su Mu! Where is this black stone—this coal mine?"
Just as Su Mu was about to speak, a crisp notification sound suddenly rang in his mind.
[Ding! Side quest triggered: Winter's Fire]
[Mission Description: The winter of the ninth year of the Zhenguan era in the Tang Dynasty was exceptionally cold. The host must assist Li Shimin in promoting honeycomb briquettes and heated brick beds within one month, saving at least ten thousand households in Chang'an from the cold.]
[Task Rewards: A map showing the distribution of shallow high-quality coal mines throughout the Tang Dynasty; blueprints for forging fine steel furnaces; blueprints for a honeycomb briquette press (manual version)]
[1000 Common Sweet Potato Seeds]
Su Mu's lips curled up slightly.
It was just a casual remark, meant to stop the emperor from looking so gloomy and affecting his appetite, but I never expected it would turn into a mission.
This reward is quite generous.
"There should be coal mines around Chang'an City."
Su Mu threw away the branch in his hand, clapped his hands, and said, "I've seen exposed coal seams on the barren mountains west of the city when I went to dig for wild vegetables before."
Li Shimin was so excited that he grabbed Su Mu's shoulder with such force that he almost crushed Su Mu's bones.
"If this succeeds, Su Mu, you will be a living bodhisattva of the Tang Dynasty! I—I will reward you handsomely!"
Su Mu disdainfully brushed his hand away: "Forget about the reward, just give me enough coal from the imperial kitchen."
Furthermore, I've written down how to make these honeycomb briquettes and how to build the stove. You should find those people in the Ministry of Works to handle it; don't make me do it myself, I find it dirty.”
"Alright, alright! Whatever you say!"
At this moment, Li Shimin had completely abandoned any imperial airs and excitedly paced around the woodshed twice.
"I will return to the palace immediately! Summon Duan Lun, Minister of Works! Produce it overnight!"
He turned to rush outside, but stopped at the door, glanced back at Xiao Sizi who was still squatting by the stove, and then at the few unfinished sweet potatoes.
"That—keep the sweet potato for me! Also, Sizi, come back to the palace with Father!"
Little Sizi is feeling warm right now and doesn't want to leave.
"No! It's warm here, Guoguo! It's freezing cold in the palace, and the blankets are cold too!"
The little girl huddled deeper into the haystack like a mischievous kitten, "Xizi wants to sleep on that—that warm bed!"
Li Shimin choked.
The magnificent Tang Dynasty imperial palace was actually complained about by the daughter, who said it wasn't as warm as a woodshed.
But this only strengthened his resolve to create a heated kang (a traditional heated brick bed).
"Alright! You can stay here for now!"
Li Shimin gritted his teeth, "Once Father finishes building that heated kang bed, you'll be able to sleep warmly every day!"
After saying this, the Tang emperor plunged headlong into the swirling snow. Although his back looked somewhat disheveled, it exuded an unprecedented fiery spirit.
Su Mu looked at the swaying wooden door, then at the little ox huddled in the haystack, grinning foolishly at him.
"Brother, Father seems like a big fool."
Little Si blinked his eyes.
Su Mu smiled, picked up the fire tongs, and stirred the remaining fire in the stove to make it burn even brighter.
"He's not stupid, he's genuinely worried you'll be cold."
The snow outside the window fell heavier and heavier, turning the world into a blanket of white.
But the woodshed was filled with warmth and coziness because of a few sweet potatoes and a few casual words.
Su Mu took out a few chestnuts from his pocket, made a cross-shaped cut on them with a knife, and threw them into the ash pile.
"Alright, never mind your dad. That was just an appetizer; I'll bake you something even more interesting next."
"There are still seven left?"
Little Sizi instantly forgot about her silly father and came over with shining eyes.
Crack!
The chestnut bursts open under high temperature, revealing its golden flesh.
Su Mu looked at the flickering flames and made some plans in his mind.
With coal and stoves, the menu for winter in the Tang Dynasty seems to have a lot of new and exciting options.
For example—hot pot with meat?
Or perhaps, we could gather around a stove and brew tea?