The rise of the prince

Chapter 199 Graphite + pulley block test

"My lord, let's take a look. It may be useful." The Liao businessman said in his unproficient Chinese.

Looking at his disheveled clothes and sunken eye sockets, it is clear that business must not be very good.

He Qian curiously looked at the few iron-black stones in front of him with a metallic luster, and asked him, "What is this?"

"This little lady, this is the iron stone of our Liao Kingdom. It can be trained to make iron. It is a good treasure that I brought from Shangjing."

"Really!" The little girl's eyes lit up. The Liao Kingdom is known as iron. Their iron is very famous. It is stronger than ordinary weapons and is also very rare. Of course I am happy to meet her suddenly now.

"Really!" The Liao businessman nodded repeatedly.

"Why is the color of your iron ore fading?" He Qian frowned, because she just touched the stone, and her fingers were dyed black.

Li Ye laughed loudly: "Little idiot, someone lied to you."

"You're stupid!" He Qian glared at her, then angrily said to the merchant from the Liao Kingdom, "You despicable villain, how dare you cheat in the street!"

"She is the daughter of Kaiyuan Fu Yin." Li Ye added at the right time.

Sure enough, the Liao people were frightened and dumbfounded. They knelt down and begged He Qian not to send someone to arrest him.

"Where did this thing come from?" Li Ye took the opportunity to question.

The Liao people hurriedly confessed that his name was Xiao Hongqi, and he was also deceived. His family was a well-known businessman in Shangjing in the Liao Kingdom. When he became an adult, his father gave him and his brothers the same money to do business.

He was deceived because of his inexperience. A few friends told him that this was a high-quality iron ore mined in the mountains east of Shangjing, and that it could be sold for a good price if it was secretly transported to Jingchao. He believed it at the time.

I bought a ship at the price of iron ore and quietly sailed south from Shangjing along the sea, and shipped it to Jingchaolai, but who knew that the buyer at Jingchao told him that it was not iron ore at all.Although it is indeed somewhat similar, it is far from iron ore.

He was dumbfounded at the time, and all his money was invested in these fake iron mines, almost penniless.

Not to mention making money, because he has no money to hire a boatman, he can't go back now.
So I had to take a few pieces here to try my luck, to see if I could sell it, because the ore would fade, and he thought about selling it to scholars to write, but no one wanted it.

After seeing He Qian, seeing her innocent, he coaxed her to be the ore for refining iron.

While talking, he begged for mercy in blunt Chinese. After all, his business went bankrupt and he was living in a foreign country. He didn't expect to accidentally offend the daughter of a high official.

He Qian wanted to kick him twice angrily, but finally held back.

Li Ye touched the ore in front of him again, and looked at it carefully for a long time. The texture and color were indeed unmistakable.

He stood up and said to him, "Where is your ship? I want all the ores, but I can only give you half the price for iron and stone."

Xiao Hongqi was stunned, looked at him in disbelief, and said anxiously: "My lord, you didn't lie to the villain, did you?"

"Of course I won't lie to you, you go back to the mansion with me first, go get someone and a car, and then we'll go to the ferry."

He was skeptical, but he had no other choice so far, so he nodded and followed Li Ye.

"Why do you want this crap?" The little girl leaned over in confusion and asked, "Didn't you say it's not iron stone, it can't be made into iron, and it will lose its color."

"This is a treasure that is more precious than iron and stone." Li Ye whispered in her ear.

"Really!" He Qian's eyes lit up, and she grabbed his arm excitedly. She always has endless enthusiasm for new things.

Li Ye actually recognized that thing at first sight, it was graphite mine.

Graphite is an allotrope of carbon, and the periphery of each carbon atom is connected with three other carbon atoms in a covalent bond to form a covalent molecule.

People's impression of graphite mostly stays in pencil lead, but graphite has many uses.

Graphite has long been positioned as a strategic resource by major countries such as Europe and the United States, and its exploitation is restricted because its nature is too good.

In addition to wear resistance and corrosion resistance, what Li Ye needs most now is its excellent heat resistance!
The melting point of graphite is as high as 5000 degrees!

It is a very strong heat-resistant material, and the melting point of steel is only about [-] to [-] degrees, which shows its heat resistance.

An important reason why it was difficult to process good steel in ancient times was that there were no refractory materials capable of high temperature resistance, but now there are.

Graphite ore is distributed in most parts of the country, but it was not discovered and used by people until modern times. Before that, no one knew its value. It is not that it has not been discovered, but its value has not been discovered by people.

Li Ye took the little girl and walked towards the palace. He was excited along the way, but he still pretended to be nonchalant, because he was afraid that the Liao businessman would raise the price.

As soon as he arrived at the palace, Li Ye called over a dozen Ding Nursing homes, drove all the cars in the palace, and headed towards the ferry under the leadership of Xiao Hongqi.

Xiao Hongqi did not lie, Yuanmendu indeed docked his ship, a ship full of graphite mines.

These ores vary in size and color, and there are even flake graphites with the best color at the bottom. The whole ship weighs about [-] jin. Li Ye personally directed the Huyuan to pack all the ores as much as possible. car.

After the final settlement, he gave Xiao Hongqi 98 pens and 130 Wen. He was grateful and thankful and cried because he was so excited that the money saved his life.

Li Ye told him that next time, if there are more graphite mines, they can be shipped from Shanghai, and at this price, he will charge no matter how much. There will be more graphite mines.

He doesn't want too much of this stuff, because of the appearance of graphite, he has to change some plans. Excellent refractory material means he can reach higher temperature and refine better steel. Good material means armor, weapons, firearms, etc. etc. performance will be improved.

Liao country tin iron?He doesn't like it at all now, it's just something processed by immature craftsmanship, the technique is worthy of recognition, but it doesn't fundamentally solve the material problem.

Xiao Hongqi nodded excitedly. How can he not be happy if someone pays for the rubbish that no one wants elsewhere?He also promised to ask his friend about the location of the mine after returning to China, and then transport it down.

After bidding farewell to this Jingguo businessman with blunt Chinese, Li Ye returned with the fleet of the palace. As soon as he arrived at the palace, he asked people to make room for the graphite ore in the backyard. There must be impurities in the ore, but he wanted to purify it. Simpler than other minerals.

The corrosion resistance and temperature resistance of graphite are unmatched by other substances. Most impurities can be removed by heating, because graphite is still intact at high temperatures, and other impurities will evaporate or liquefy.

Everyone in the Wangfu saw that the son came back with such a bunch of weird things, and they were not surprised for a long time, so Yan Yan didn't ask any more questions, and went to vacate the wing room of the deserted courtyard to pile up these black stones.

That night, the palace was so busy that Li Ye forgot about He Qian's request to order food, which made the little girl pout and be very dissatisfied.

"Mr. Fang, how about my battle robe?" The prince was wearing a red mountain armor, a cloak inlaid with gold pattern horns, a sword hanging around his waist, and the sword guard was inlaid with precious jade.

"Your Highness is majestic and majestic," Mr. Fang complimented.

The crown prince laughed, then sat down opposite Mr. Fang, and said with a vow: "This time I am going south, I will definitely make my father look at me with admiration."

Mr. Fang smiled and nodded: "Actually, since the emperor let His Highness go down, it means to give His Highness credit. Your Highness doesn't need to worry about it. Just go. Even if Yang Hongzhao's former army has calmed down the chaos, His Highness will still have merit. .”

The crown prince frowned and said: "No, how can people in the world know my martial arts?

Would it be possible for people all over the world to say that I am a majestic prince, not as good as Yang Hongzhao who is the commander in front of the palace? How can I convince the public then? "

"Your Highness, right now it is a big deal to successfully ascend the throne. The war is changing rapidly, so it is difficult to figure it out. Who dares to say that it will be fine if you win, but what if you lose?" Mr. Fang is still persuading.

The prince didn't take it seriously: "Suzhou can only contain thousands of Xiang troops at most, how can you still stop my tens of thousands of troops?"

Mr. Fang poured himself a cup of tea, poured it for the crown prince, and persuaded him again: "Your Highness will not be a general, but a supreme one. As a supreme, why should you compete with other ministers for merit? You should be happy for your ministers. In this way, when His Highness ascends the throne in the future, all the ministers will also be grateful for His Majesty's heart."

After hearing this, the prince suddenly realized and nodded: "So that's what happened. Thank you, Mr. Fang, for teaching me. After going south, I will definitely not have the same knowledge as that Yang Hongzhao."

Mr. Fang nodded in relief: "His Royal Highness needs to be more careful this time. The prefect of Suzhou always gives people a feeling of confidence. I have been worried for a long time."

He picked up his teacup and stood up, pacing and saying: "If it's an emergency, I want to say that if it's an emergency... Your Highness, please don't try to be happy for a while, the best policy is to protect yourself, and I'm still waiting in the north Your Highness is back."

The prince stopped laughing, stood up and made a long bow: "I remember what you said, sir, but you don't have to think too much, I have tens of thousands of soldiers in my hand, and there is nothing to be afraid of in Suzhou. Sir, just wait for me to bring the thief Head back."

Mr. Fang nodded: "I hope so."

On the eleventh day of the first lunar month, the army of the Forbidden Army camp outside the city swore to leave Beijing.

The mighty tens of thousands of people went to Yuanmen Ferry. Most of the people in the capital heard about it but didn't see it, but people outside the city saw it clearly, and various rumors began to spread.

Some said that the flames soared into the sky, and the team walked for three days and three nights before finishing.

Some said that Jun Wu passed by his house, obviously walking for seven days.

Some people said that after walking for more than ten days, the torches illuminated the night sky as brightly as day, and many people thought it was dawn and woke up.

In short, there are different opinions and it is difficult to make a consensus. Li Ye heard about it at the door of his house, and the servants in the mansion were also discussing it.

He didn't know what the camp outside the city was like, and naturally he didn't know how the imperial army set off. He only knew that Ji Chunsheng told him that the front and rear troops set off half a day apart.

It must be to grab credit...

He still hasn't received a reply from Luzhou's sister-in-law's family, but the army has already set off.

Under the covering of the nest, how can there be no eggs.

……

In the past few days, Li Ye can only get up early on time and does not do morning exercises, so this is only because the old man next door Chen Jue waits for him every morning.

The two became a strange friendship, and the old man still remembered the incident of beating him by himself, so he did not enter the palace for half a step.

But every morning, he still bowed to him standardly, without saying a word, every day.

In the afternoon, Degong brought Gillian to his home for the first time in years.

Presumably, many entertainments at home have been completed, after all, it is the prime minister's mansion.

And the Wangfu is busy today, the pulley block designed by Qiuer has been completed, and it will be actually installed and tested today.

Many people have heard about this matter and have come to join in the fun.

The servants in the mansion have long been familiar with Degong, and enthusiastically surrounded him to enter the door.

Many people in the palace seem to regard Gillian as the future mistress of the palace, and they all use their own family's words in address.

Little Gillian was very shy and hid behind her grandfather, but she didn't deny it.

Li Ye was calling for people to set up the load-bearing frame, and when he heard that Mr. De was coming, he also came to the front hall.

"Heh, you kid, you are dressed in rags and covered in mud, so you come to see this old man, don't you mean that you look down on this old man." De Gong stared.

Li Ye chuckled: "One family doesn't speak the same language, I dress like a beggar, why don't you see me?"

De Gong shook his head: "Shameless, there is no one who claims to be a family member like you. If it weren't for His Majesty's will, the old man would never want your cheeky grandson-in-law anyway."

Li Ye laughed, and while taking the tea from Yue'er, he said: "There is a saying in our hometown, thick-skinned, enough to eat."

With a blushing face, Gillian consciously took the teapot in his hand: "My lord, let me pour tea for you."

"Okay." Li Ye didn't care about his disheveled face, and passed the cup in his hand. Gillian poured it for him and poured it for De Gong.

"Why don't you see the girl named Qiu'er, don't you always keep by your side, don't you want to leave for a moment?" De Gong asked.

After all, Qiu'er's calculation skills far surpassed that of ordinary people left a deep impression on him. A young girl who looked younger than Gillian was actually doing better than Tang Zhouwei, Secretary of the Ministry of Household Affairs. Naturally, he was deeply impressed.

Speaking of this, Li Ye said proudly: "Qiu'er is outside, and she is going to lift a thousand catties with the strength of two people."

Hearing this, Degong was taken aback for a moment, and then said: "Oh, you kid, did you just bluff the old man again, and even a three-year-old child would not believe it if you lifted a thousand catties with the strength of two people? Don't believe it."

"Do you want to take a gamble?" Li Ye asked back.

De Gong pondered for a while, then replied neatly: "No gambling."

Li Ye was speechless: "Don't you believe it, why don't you gamble now?"

"Everything related to you can't be judged by common sense. This old man has eyes, so he will naturally look at it and want to vent his anger on you." De Gong snorted, raised his foot and said: " Lead the way for the old man."

Li Ye spread his hands, he laughed and didn't care, he led him and Gillian through the side yard, and went out from the small gate on the east side of the palace. As soon as he went out, he saw the river bank, surrounded by many people in the palace and craftsmen.

When the people behind saw Li Ye, they began to shout, "Here comes the prince". After a few times, the crowd gave way to the river bank, where Qiu'er was instructing everyone to set up the pulley block she designed.

The huge water wheel was also moved to the side of the table, which was as tall as three or four people and weighed one or two thousand catties
(End of this chapter)