The Good Grandson of the Red Chamber

Chapter 50: Accusing

Seeing Prince Zhongshun's reaction, Xia Chengzong knew that he didn't take this business seriously.

Xia Chengzong said helplessly, "Fifth Uncle, I'm talking to you about serious business. As long as you stock up on a large amount of charcoal powder in the next few days, I guarantee you'll make a fortune."

Prince Chungshun yawned and said, "Only those peasants use charcoal powder. They mix charcoal powder with yellow mud to make charcoal cakes for burning."

"Not only is the smoke too thick and pungent, but the fire is also too small. Even slightly wealthy families don't use it. How can you make money with that?"

Xia Chengzong hadn't expected that in this era, people had already learned to mix yellow clay into charcoal powder to make charcoal cakes for burning.

Fortunately, honeycomb briquettes hadn't been invented yet, otherwise they would have been completely useless.

In his previous life, he was a retro craft content creator who mastered many retro techniques.

He has many ways to make money, but he is too young and confined to the palace to implement them for the time being.

Coincidentally, he also knows how to make honeycomb briquettes.

Of course, making honeycomb briquettes requires little technical skill and yields low profits.

The most important point is that it is easy for others to imitate, so making honeycomb briquettes is not among his profitable businesses.

Giving it to my fifth uncle now, and incidentally helping the disaster victims, is a very good thing.

Xia Chengzong smiled and said, "Fifth Uncle, please allow me to keep you in suspense for now. You'll know once you see the finished product in a day or two."

"However, if Fifth Uncle doesn't prepare in time, once business booms, I'm afraid he might not be able to buy coal!"

Prince Chungshun laughed and said, "Don't worry, your fifth uncle owns a medium-sized coal mine. Why would he be afraid of not having coal face?"

"Brother Zong, give your fifth uncle a heads-up, do you really think this business will be a hit?"

Xia Chengzong nodded and said, "Fifth Uncle, don't you trust me? When have I ever boasted?"

Prince Chungshun nodded. Although his nephew was young, he was a man destined for great things.

He said, "If that's the case, then Fifth Uncle will make preparations and try to book out all the charcoal noodles on the market in advance!"

"If we make money, you'll definitely get your share!"

Xia Chengzong laughed and said, "Fifth Uncle's involvement has already been a great help to me. How could I possibly ask Fifth Uncle for more money?"

Of course, if his fifth uncle insisted on giving it to him, he couldn't very well refuse...

Prince Chungshun laughed heartily and went out to attend to the matter of the charcoal noodles.

Xia Chengzong, accompanied by four eunuchs from the east, west, south, and north, headed straight for the Thirteenth Palace.

The Thirteen Institutes were originally the Daqian Military Factory, specializing in manufacturing and maintaining military weapons.

Of course, they later also produced firearms such as flintlock muskets and cannons.

When the Great Qian Dynasty was first established, the Thirteen Institutes were extremely busy, and they had to work overtime almost every day.

The craftsmen in the workshop were treated very well, and they felt superior to others when they went out.

As time went on, their business dwindled and their compensation worsened.

And since their professions were hereditary and they couldn't change, these craftsmen were all extremely poor.

With people on the verge of starvation, they had no choice but to open up their external business.

Xia Chengzong came to the Thirteenth Institute to have them create a batch of molds for manufacturing anthracite coal.

Upon entering the Thirteenth Institute, craftsmen quickly came forward to greet us.

The craftsman recognized several eunuchs at a glance and knew that the young master was of extraordinary status.

However, since the thirteen families had been doing business and had dealt with the royal family quite a bit, they were not afraid.

When the craftsman saw the very strange mold drawing that Xia Chengzong took out, he couldn't help but frown.

"This mold is very strange and difficult to make; it will take at least a month to complete."

"If you can wait, young master, you can pay the deposit first and come to pick up the finished product in a month."

Do we have to wait a month?

By then, the daylily will be too cold.

Xia Chengzong said, "What if I want them in large quantities? The first batch would be a hundred, the second a thousand, and the third might be tens of thousands."

Upon hearing that the quantity was so large, the craftsman dared not act on his own initiative and hurriedly went in to invite the foreman out.

After some discussion, Xia Chengzong left a deposit of one hundred taels of silver and agreed to pick up the first batch of one hundred molds three days later.

Prince Zhongshun ordered that one new quilt be replaced with two old ones, but soon received feedback that the replacement could not be made.

In ancient times, cotton-padded clothes and quilts were circulated goods and could be pawned for silver.

If you fluff up the cotton in an old quilt, it will become as fluffy as new and can be used for many more years.

Therefore, at most two new quilts can be exchanged for three old quilts; there is no one-to-two exchange ratio.

This result was unexpected by Prince Chungshun.

However, he still scolded me impatiently, "Why are you asking me about such a trivial matter? If you can't replace it, just add some silver. It's only a few dollars!"

"Yes, Your Highness!"

……

Among the disaster victims, some were exchanging supplies.

They learned that the porridge served at the other porridge distribution points was made with white rice, and chopsticks inserted into it would not fall over.

They ate brown rice porridge, which contained grit.

This caused them considerable resentment.

They wanted to go to other porridge distribution points, but were afraid that if they went, they wouldn't be able to come back.

Staying here will at least prevent them from starving to death.

In the end, they had no choice but to endure it.

In the afternoon, each of them received two old cotton quilts.

With these two old cotton quilts, they wouldn't freeze at night.

They heard that other shantytown residents had been allocated a new cotton quilt, but they were not envious.

A new quilt becomes an old quilt after one winter, right? How can it compare to two old quilts?

……

Soon, news of the shantytown reached the ears of Xia Chengxu and his three companions.

They were completely stunned when they learned of this news.

For a moment, they couldn't even believe it was real.

Zong Laosan has always been extremely intelligent, how could he do something so absurd?

They secretly came to check it out themselves and found that it was indeed true!

This immediately filled them with joy!

Zong Laosan is indeed clever, but his short-sightedness is far too great!

If you're only thinking about how to make money the first time you do something, how can you possibly succeed with that kind of character?

As long as this matter is reported to the Emperor, the third son of the imperial clan will surely lose the Emperor's favor.

Once he falls out of favor, he will no longer pose a threat.

With that in mind, the four of them discussed it and decided to launch their attack that very night, lest things get complicated.

If it were their parents, they would probably have used a more prudent method.

They themselves can step back and withdraw, leaving themselves to let others take the lead.

At the Fourth Primary School, no matter how clever they are, they are still children and far from having such deep cunning.

That evening, after the children had dinner with Emperor Yonglong, Xia Chengxu was the first to make his move.

He said with a smile, "Grandfather, I heard that the Third Brother Zong fed the disaster victims with rotten rice, and the porridge he cooked was so thin that you could see your reflection in it."

"They also sprinkled sand and gravel inside, replaced the new cotton quilts with old ones and distributed them to the disaster victims, and replaced the charcoal with charcoal powder, which was piled up outside and not allowed to be burned by the disaster victims."

"As his elder brother, I should have covered for him. However, I think it would be better to wake him up as soon as possible to prevent my third brother from going astray. I hope Your Majesty will see this clearly."