The ministers begged me to ascend the throne

After letting King Dai and King Jing fight each other, Zhao Yao no longer paid attention to matters in the capital.He is very busy every day and has no time to pay attention to things outside of Marsh Mansion.

He originally planned to wait until the Lantern Festival before starting work, but after the seventh day of the Lunar New Year, there was nothing to do.In the past, in Beijing, the busiest period was during the Chinese New Year, and people would not be free until after the Lantern Festival.However, now in Marsh Mansion, Zhao Yao does not need to go out every day to pay New Year greetings or participate in various activities in the palace.

Zhao Yao, His Royal Highness the King of Han, is the highest authority in the Marsh Mansion. He does not need to go out to pay New Year greetings to others, but other people come to pay New Year greetings to him.However, he had killed all the former officials of Marsh Mansion and the local wealthy gentry, and the rest were ordinary people, and they were not qualified to see Zhao Yao.

After the seventh day of the Lunar New Year, Zhao Yao was completely free.He originally planned to have a good rest for a few days during the Lantern Festival. After all, he had not had any leisure time since he came to Marsh Mansion.Maybe it was because he was too busy before and he was not used to being suddenly free.After two days of rest, he got back to work.

The officials of the Han Dynasty's small court still followed the previous regulations and went to work after the Lantern Festival.

Although Zhao Yao was busy these past two days, he was only busy refining elixirs.

In the backyard of the Han Palace, there is an alchemy furnace more than one meter high.Zhao Yao sat in front of the stove, holding a cattail fan in one hand and throwing things into the fire from time to time.

He Lianfang came to the backyard and saw Zhao Yao refining elixir again.He frowned slightly and pushed the wheelchair to Zhao Yao's side.

"You brat, do you want to practice Taoism and become an immortal?"

Zhao Yao raised his head and looked at He Lianfang with slight confusion: "I have no such plan."

"Then what are you doing now?" He Lianfang pointed to the alchemy furnace in front of Zhao Yao, "Aren't you refining alchemy?"

Zhao Yao laughed helplessly and said: "Second uncle, didn't I tell you, I am doing an experiment, not really refining elixirs." As for what the experiment was, Zhao Yao did not tell He Lianfang for the time being.

He Lianfang snorted coldly and said: "In my opinion, you are just refining elixirs."

Zhao Yao stood up, shook the cattail leaf fan in his hand, and said mysteriously: "I am conducting an experiment through alchemy."

He Lianfang asked: "What experiment?"

"I'm telling you now, but you don't understand. I'll tell you after my experiment is successful." After Zhao Yao finished speaking, he sat back in front of the stove, grabbed a handful of saltpeter from a bowl on the table nearby and threw it into the furnace. Then put a little sulfur and charcoal into the stove.

Saltpeter is easy to get.When Zhao Yao was still very young, he used saltpeter to make ice.Now people throughout the Zhou Dynasty can use ice in summer, all thanks to Zhao Yao.

Sulfur and charcoal are also easy to get.There are many hot springs in Marsh Mansion, and sulfur is one of the most important ingredients in the hot springs.Charcoal is made directly from trees.The most indispensable thing in Marsh Mansion is trees, and there are also many precious woods.

Zhao Yao stared straight at the alchemy furnace.He did not dare to put in large amounts of saltpeter, sulfur and charcoal at once.If he put too much at once, his life might be in danger, so he could only experiment little by little.

A lot of fireworks suddenly came out from the lid of the alchemy furnace, and soon there was a crackling sound from the furnace, and then a lot of sparks came out of the furnace.Although Zhao Yao rushed away with a fan, there were still many sparks splashing on him.Some of it also splashed on He Lianfang, who was not far from Zhao Yao.

When the situation in the stove returned to calm, Zhao Yao quickly wrote down the ratio and reaction just now.

"Second uncle, it's more dangerous here. You'd better go back."

"Danger, where is the danger?" He Lianfang did not see the danger.

"Didn't some sparks splash on you just now?" Zhao Yao walked up behind He Lianfang and pushed him out of the backyard.

"What the hell are you going to do?"

"I'll tell you when I succeed."

"Are you really not refining alchemy?" He Lianfang saw that Zhao Yao had been squatting in front of the alchemy furnace day and night these past few days, without even going back to the house to sleep, just like the Taoist priests he met before who were refining elixirs.In his eyes, Zhao Yao was completely obsessed with alchemy.

Seeing that He Lianfang still didn't believe him, Zhao Yao felt helpless.

"I'm really not refining alchemy, I'm really doing an experiment." As soon as he finished speaking, he added, "The goal of my experiment is to blow up the alchemy furnace."

"Exploding the alchemy furnace?" He Lianfang looked a little weird, "What's your hobby?"

Zhao Yao rolled his eyes speechlessly, "I'm a serious alchemy furnace bomber, I'm not playing any games." What was the second uncle thinking in his head.

"Isn't it easy to blow up the alchemy furnace?" He Lianfang had seen Taoist priests blow up the alchemy furnace before.In his opinion, it is a very common thing to blow up the alchemy furnace when refining alchemy. "Does this still require you to do an experiment?"

"Second uncle, do you think it's easy to blow up the alchemy furnace?"

"Isn't it simple? I have seen Taoist priests blow up alchemy furnaces."

"It was because they accidentally blew up the furnace while refining alchemy."

He Lianfang glanced sideways at Zhao Yao, "Aren't you also refining elixirs now? What's the difference?"

"Of course it's different. The main purpose of those Taoist priests is to make alchemy, not to blow up the alchemy furnace. And my main purpose is to blow up the furnace, not to make alchemy."

He Lianfang felt that there was no difference between the two.He also thought that Zhao Yao was doing useless work.

"You'd better just go find a Taoist priest and let him blow up the stove for you."

"Second uncle, you don't understand. You should go back first." Zhao Yao was too lazy to explain the test to He Lianfang again and waited until his experiment was successful.

"Is there really no need to find a Taoist priest for you?"

"No, I want to blow up the stove myself."

He Lianfang was very helpless after being pushed away.He decided to wait two more days.If Zhao Yao is still addicted to alchemy after the Lantern Festival, he will definitely stop him.

After sending He Lianfang away, Zhao Yao continued his experiment of exploding the furnace.Based on the previous ratio, increase the amount.

The proportion of black fire must be precise, otherwise it is easy to cause trouble.In order to make the ratio accurate, Zhao Yao could only mix it little by little.By noon, his experiment had made a big breakthrough.

There was a loud bang in the stove, and then the stove began to shake violently.However, the furnace did not explode.

At noon, Zheng Cheng and Zheng Qian came to find Zhao Yao.

Since the end of last year, Zheng Cheng has been arranged by Zhao Yao to make a fire gun, but he has never been successful.I came to Zhao Yao today because the fire gun was successfully made.However, because Black Fire has not been made yet, the fire blunderbuss made has no ammunition.

At present, the firecrackers made by Zheng Cheng cannot be regarded as real firecrackers, but simplified versions of firecrackers.Only when Zhao Yao makes the black fire can he make a real fire gun.

Zhao Yao tried the "fake" firecrackers made by Zheng Cheng and others.The ammunition for fake firecrackers is small sticks or pebbles.

Pulling the trigger, the small wooden stick in the fake fire gun was launched and hit a tree about a foot away. Zhao Yao smiled with satisfaction when he saw a small hole appear on the trunk of the tree.

"That's it." Zhao Yao handed the simple version of the fire gun to Zheng Cheng, "This is not a real fire gun yet. When I make the black fire, you can make a real fire gun."

Zheng Cheng asked: "Your Highness, how is your Black Fire doing?"

"It's coming soon. I believe we can make it in the next two days." The main reason why Zhao Yao made black fire by himself was because the process of making black fire can be very dangerous, ranging from injuries to death.

Zhao Yao looked at Zheng Qian standing aside: "Why did you come to me for something?"

"Your Highness, last year you asked me to count the fields and people in Marsh Mansion."

"Didn't you finish the statistics?" Zhao Yao asked doubtfully, "What went wrong?"

"No problem. I just want to ask you, how are the fields distributed?" Zhao Yao asked the Ministry of Household Affairs to count the population and fields. One of the purposes was to facilitate distribution this year. "Should the distribution be based on the number of people or each household?" Zhao Yao said: "Distribution based on the number of people."

Zheng Qian continued to ask: "Everyone? There is no distinction between men and women, no age?"

"Not everyone." Zhao Yao walked back to the alchemy furnace and quickly wrote down the ratios and reactions before telling Zheng Qian, "Only men and women can be allocated land after they reach adulthood. Minors are not eligible for the allocation for the time being. To the fields.”

Zheng Cheng squatted aside and carefully looked at the data recorded by Zhao Yao.

Zhao Yao added sulfur, charcoal and saltpeter to the furnace.

"Of course, only good people are entitled to land."

After adding the ingredients, Zhao Yao pulled Zheng Cheng and Zheng Qian away from the alchemy furnace.Maybe the alchemy furnace might explode later, so it would be safer to stay away from it.

The three of them stood behind a rockery.While Zhao Yao stared at the alchemy furnace, he continued to tell Zheng Qian: "The head tax is exempted. Don't fight for the head tax in the future."

Hearing this, Zheng Qian had a look of astonishment on his face: "Your Highness, the poll tax has been around since ancient times and has been collected since the founding of the Zhou Dynasty. Wouldn't it be bad if you took the poll tax?"

"It's not like it's been cancelled, but the poll tax has been incorporated into the land tax." Zhao Yao added, "All taxes will be exempted this year. Of course, the grain submitted to the court cannot be less. Others will be exempted."

"Your Highness, do you really want to waive them all?" Zheng Qian hesitated and said, "Lingnan has to pay taxes to the imperial court every year. If you waive them all, what will you give to the imperial court?"

"I'm talking about the full exemption in Marsh Mansion, not other places." Zhao Yao said with a smile, "It will only be exempted for one year this year and will resume tomorrow. However, the taxes next year and the year after will be reduced by half."

After hearing these words, Zheng Qian felt relieved.

"I know it."

"As for how to distribute according to the number of people, you and Prime Minister Wen can discuss it." Zhao Yao provided Zheng Qian with a general direction. The specific details will be worked out by Zheng Qian, the Minister of Household Affairs.If he, the King of Han, had to work out even the details, then what would he want the officials to do?

"Yes, Your Highness." Zheng Qian thought of the tribe's fields and asked, "Your Highness, do the fields of each tribe also need to be allocated according to the number of people?"

"I remember that the chieftains of every tribe own a lot of fields, right?"

"Yes, at least there are more than 100 acres of fields."

Zhao Yao touched his chin and said thoughtfully: "Also distribute according to the number of people. The extra fields can be sold."

"Yes."

"In the future, land tax will not be collected according to the number of people, but according to the acres of land." Whoever has more fields will pay more taxes.

After listening to this, Zheng Qian's eyes became very bright and his expression became very excited.

"Your Highness is wise, Your Highness is kind!"

"After you plan to allocate the fields, you can then allocate grain and farm tools." Zhao Yao solemnly explained, "The Marsh Mansion will be farming soon. You must do these things quickly to ensure that when the farming is done, the people will have land. Plowing and sowing seeds.”

Zheng Qian's heart trembled, and he said seriously: "Your Highness, don't worry, I will definitely do this as soon as possible."

Zhao Yao still has great trust in Zheng Qian's work ability.

"Then go get busy."

"Your Highness, I take my leave..." Before Zheng Qian could finish his words, he heard a loud noise, and then saw the alchemy furnace explode, startling him and Zheng Cheng.

When Zhao Yao saw that the alchemy furnace finally exploded, his face was full of ecstasy.However, he did not rush forward to check.He was afraid it would explode again.After a while, he walked over.

"It finally exploded."

Although Zheng Cheng didn't understand what was so happy about the explosion of the alchemy furnace, but when he saw the joy on Zhao Yao's face, he knew that the explosion of the alchemy furnace should be a happy event.

"Congratulations." Zhao Yao shouted loudly.

After a while, Tongxi appeared in front of Zhao Yao: "Your Highness, what's wrong?"

"Hurry up and get a big alchemy furnace, bigger than the previous one."

"Ah?" Tongxi looked at the fragments of the alchemy furnace on the ground and asked with surprise and confusion on his face, "Your Highness, didn't you blow up the alchemy furnace? Why do you still need the alchemy furnace?"

"Of course we'll continue to explode."

Tongxi: "..." Your Highness, are you addicted to frying stoves?

"Go and get me a bigger alchemy furnace." He wanted to continue the experiment.

"The slave is going here."

He Lianfang came over at this time.He was startled by the loud noise just now.As soon as he arrived, he heard Zhao Yao asking Tong Xi to find him a larger alchemy furnace.

"You want to blow up the furnace?" He Lianfang looked at Zhao Yao strangely, "How many furnaces do you want to blow up?"

"Blow a few more and that'll be it." Zhao Yao said with a smile on his face.

He Lianfang complained sharply: "What is your hobby?"

Zhao Yao defended again: "This is an experiment, not a strange hobby."

He Lianfang was too lazy to talk to Zhao Yao and pushed the wheelchair away.

Zhao Yao asked others to clean up the scene and took Zheng Cheng to the study, while Zheng Qian went to find Wen Daoji.As for the fact that Wen Daoji was on vacation at home, he simply ignored it.

Zheng Cheng took the pile of paper handed to him by Zhao Yao. He looked down and saw a pattern drawn on the paper with the word "waterwheel" written on it. He looked at Zhao Yao with bright eyes and asked, "Your Highness, This is?"

"Waterwheels, irrigation tools." Zhao Yao pointed to the stack of paper in Zheng Cheng's hand and said, "I drew three types of waterwheels, namely waterwheels, cows and donkeys."

Zheng Cheng quickly looked at the drawings of these three waterwheels, and then his expression became very excited: "Don't worry, Your Highness, I will make the waterwheel as soon as possible."

"Just make it before farming." The terrain in Lingnan is complex, with highs and lows.Without water trucks, many fields would not be irrigated.With the waterwheel, water can be irrigated in both high-lying areas and low-lying fields.

"Yes, Your Highness." Zheng Cheng took the drawing of the waterwheel and hurriedly left the Han Palace and went to the office of the Ministry of Industry.

Zhao Yao wrote down the ingredients for exploding the alchemy furnace just now, and then went out with the ingredients.He deliberately chose a place with trees to test the detonation effect.It worked just fine, blowing up a few trees.

When Tongxi came to see Zhao Yao, he saw injuries on his face and was still bleeding. He was so frightened that he called a doctor.

The death of the deposed prince will be explained in the next chapter.

This chapter is the plot of the Shangyuan Festival.